The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A scuffle ensued on Friday as Member of Parliament Paul Akamba was rearrested at the Anti-Corruption Court premises shortly after securing bail on corruption charges.
Akamba was earlier granted a cash bail of 13 million shillings by Chief Magistrate Joan Aciro, who also ordered him to deposit his passport with the court.
However, shortly after fulfilling the bail conditions, plainclothes armed personnel grabbed him as he exited the court premises, flanked by his supporters who screamed for his freedom.
During the scuffle, some individuals were kicked and battered as they tried to obstruct the MP’s rearrest. Pistols were visibly seen falling in the middle of the road as the armed personnel whisked Akamba away in a Noah vehicle, followed by another speeding vehicle branded with the Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT) logo.
Akamba is jointly charged with Cissy Namujju, the Lwengo District Woman MP, and Yusuf Mutembuli. Both Namujju and Mutembuli were earlier denied bail due to a lack of substantial surities.
The prosecution alleges that MPs Mutembuli, Akamba, and Namujju solicited an undue advantage of 20% of the anticipated budget of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) for the financial year 2024/2025 from Mariam Wangadya, the Chairperson of UHRC, on May 13, 2024, at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
This was reportedly done by claiming they could exert improper influence over the decision-making of the Budget Committee of the Parliament of Uganda to increase the UHRC budget in exchange for the said undue advantage.
Trouble for the accused began last week after President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, in his State of the Nation Address, disclosed that he had overwhelming evidence of corruption among public officials.
Museveni claimed that the MPs allegedly colluded with accounting officers, the Ministry of Finance, and the Bank of Uganda to allocate public resources in exchange for kickbacks (bribes) and vowed to take action against them.
Museveni revealed that the evidence confirmed long-standing rumors of corruption within the government, particularly during the annual appropriation of taxpayers’ money.
He suggested the possibility of granting amnesty to corrupt MPs, but the majority of legislators interrupted his speech to prevent him from naming and shaming them in public.
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