Three Ugandan ruling party legislators have been charged with corruption for attempting to influence a rights body to inflate its budget, according to a charge sheet seen by Reuters.
Corruption is rampant in the East African country, but the prosecution of top officials, especially those allied with President Yoweri Museveni and his ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, is rare.
The three legislators—Mutembuli, Paul Akamba, and Cissy Namujju Dionizia—were charged late Wednesday at the High Court in Kampala.
They are accused of trying to persuade the chairperson of the state-funded Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) to inflate the organisation’s 2024/25 budget, offering the lawmakers 20% of the inflated amount in return.
“Mutembuli, Akamba and Dionizia … solicited an undue advantage … by asserting that they were able to exert improper influence over the decision-making of the budget committee of parliament of Uganda to increase the UHRC budget,” the charge-sheet said.
The three pleaded not guilty and were remanded to a maximum security prison. One of the defense lawyers, Asuman Basalirwa, argued that the charges should not be considered “grave” and requested bail.
Judge Joan Aciro remanded them until June 14, when they will return for a ruling on the bail application.
Last week, Museveni stated that he had received intelligence indicating some lawmakers were colluding with government officials to inflate budgets in exchange for commissions.
The opposition has long criticized Museveni’s government for failing to prosecute top officials for corruption, accusing the administration of prioritizing political loyalty over accountability in public finances.
