Kampala, Uganda — Parliament’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Chris Ariko Obore, has been arrested alongside seven other senior parliamentary staff in a sweeping operation led by the Inspectorate of Government, in the most significant blow yet to Parliament’s leadership amid a widening investigation into alleged corruption at the heart of the institution.
Detectives attached to the Inspectorate of Government picked up the eight suspects in the operation, and the IGG spokesperson, Ali Munira, confirmed the arrests, saying they were connected to the alleged misuse of funds belonging to the Uganda Parliamentary Cooperative Savings and Credit Society. She said the suspects would be arraigned in court shortly.
The scale of the swoop has stunned Parliament, reaching well beyond Obore, Parliament’s most visible public face, to sweep up officials at the very top of its administrative structure. Also detained were Adilo Daniel, Director of Human Resource; Okema Leonard, Executive Secretary in the Office of the Speaker; Rajab Kaaya Ssemalulu, Principal Research Officer; Okwi Emmanuel Emuron, Principal Protocol Officer; Itute Stella, Personal Assistant; Otebata Vincent, Capacity Development Officer; and Murebe Methods, Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Parliamentary Cooperative Savings and Credit Society itself. Between them, the eight span the Speaker’s office, human resource, research, protocol and the SACCO’s own management, underscoring just how far the IGG’s net has been cast.
The arrests land in the middle of an already turbulent stretch for Parliament’s leadership. Security agencies have for weeks been investigating former Speaker Anita Among over allegations of corruption, abuse of office and money laundering, and have searched her office at Parliament as well as several of her properties in Kampala and Wakiso district, including homes in Nakasero, Ntinda and Kigo, and a property in Bukedea district. Sources close to that probe say further Members of Parliament and staff, including officials linked to Among’s office, have been lined up for questioning as investigators widen their inquiries, and Thursday’s arrests are likely to intensify pressure on the institution’s leadership.
Obore’s detention is also the latest chapter in a long-running scrutiny of Parliament’s finances by the Inspectorate of Government, which in 2019 implicated senior clerks over misused training allowances and has more recently examined a disputed multi-billion-shilling “service award” that opposition legislators allege was routed through the Parliament SACCO to avoid a paper trail. Obore, who has served as Parliament’s chief spokesperson since 2015, has previously and publicly denied any wrongdoing in connection with those SACCO-related allegations.
The Inspectorate of Government has not yet released a full charge sheet against the eight suspects. Parliament and the IGG are expected to issue further statements as the suspects are arraigned in court.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more details emerge.
