Some of the July 23, 2024 March to Parliament protesters are seen in the dock at Buganda Road Chief Magistrates' Court on the same day. PHOTO/ISAAC KASAMANI
What started as a simple post on February 25 turned out to be one of the biggest online civic movements of the year. The Uganda Parliament Exhibition, run by online activists on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), sought to expose the under-the-radar operations of the 11th Parliament, among them corruption, abuse of office, maladministration, and financial mismanagement.
For three weeks, the front runners of the campaign, including journalist and lawyer Agather Atuhaire, as well as university don Jim Spire Ssentongo, shared a trove of documents and publicly sourced information that exposed questionable undertakings that implicated top leadership and public officials in the Legislature.
Documents attributed to the Parliamentary Commission, the government payment system, and the Financial Intelligence Authority, as well as anonymous testimonies by members of the public with knowledge of the inner workings of the House, pinned Parliament for lavish and questionable expenditure, irregular recruitments, under dealings, among others.
Ms Anita Among, the Speaker, came under scrutiny for allegedly spending billions of shillings on foreign trips and donations. Documents earlier analyzed by this publication identified concerns pointing to her spending Shs3 billion in foreign travel across six months between July 2023 and January 2024, and allegations that she spends $4,000 (Shs14.6 million) as opposed to the prescribed $990 (Shs3.6m) per diem per day.
Other allegations include depositing billions of shillings on private accounts of junior Parliament staff for her corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, contrary to standing orders issued to avert corruption.
Service award
Another contentious matter was the Shs1.7 billion service award to former Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP) Mathias Mpuuga and three backbench National Resistance Movement (NRM) commissioners, by the Parliamentary Commission in May 2022. The three commissioners in question are Solomon Silwany (Bukooli Central), Prossy Akampurira Mbabazi (Rubanda District Woman MP), and Esther Afoyochan (Zombo District Woman MP).
While it was later ruled that no illegality was committed in the service award, trial judge Dr. Douglas Karekona Singiza raised some moral questions that pinned the Commission.
“The expectation of the framers of the Constitution was that the salaries and allowances of MPs, once determined by Parliament itself, would be sufficient to permit those persons to discharge their duties faithfully in the service of the people of Uganda. Those salaries and allowances are far above what is earned by most Ugandans, including those who perform sensitive duties such as doctors, nurses, teachers, police officers, and members of the armed forces,” Dr Singiza averred.
“Certainly, it is impossible to conceive the expectation that in terms of Article 85 of the Constitution, MPs would award themselves 'prizes' over and above what is ordinarily due to them; the expectation is that the allowances determined under Article 85(1) are sufficient,” he added.
The judge consequently directed the Attorney General to urgently consider a Salary and Emoluments Review Board to harmonize emoluments and allowances of the government and political leaders. This, he says, would eliminate such ad hoc ways of doling out emoluments. He warned that the unregulated award of prizes that have since dominated government agencies threaten to deplete the nation's coffers.
Activists carry placards as they shout slogans outside Uganda’s Parliament on September 02, 2024 during a protest against the continued corruption and lack of what they described as government help for the victims of the August 10 Kiteezi landfill collapse that left 35 Ugandans dead and several missing. PHOTO/ ISAAC KASAMANI
More skeletons...
The exhibition of the House also exposed issues of irregular recruitments and ghost staff, nepotism, among others. While Ugandans online were astounded and outraged by the revelations, the leadership at Parliament remained adamant.
Speaker Among would go on to accuse the campaigners of witch hunt, while Mr Mpuuga told this publication in an interview that he did not regret pocketing Shs500 million as a service award. Mr Mpuuga, alongside commissioners Mr Silwany, Ms Afoyochan, and Ms Akampurira, in a meeting chaired by Speaker Among, were recipients of Shs1.7 billion ostensibly for services rendered to the country, with Mr Mpuuga receiving Shs500m, while the rest pocketed Shs400m each.
Ms Among would remain tightlipped, leaving the burden of firefighting to the Parliament’s Directorate of Communication and Public Affairs. When she did speak out weeks later, she dismissed the allegations as a witch hunt masterminded by sympathizers of the LGBTQI+ community for spearheading the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2022.
This became her defense and not once did she offer alternative reasons. “I will never, and I am saying never, give you an answer on hearsay, on rumor mongering. We are not going to run this House on rumor mongering... me to answer you on hearsay on things that you have cooked on the social media because I have said no bum-shafting? I will not,” she said on March 15.
Ssekikubo censure motion
Ms Among also frustrated and shut down any attempts by legislators to debate the issue raised in the exhibition. Attempts by Lwemiyaga lawmaker Theodore Ssekikubo to table a censure motion against the recipients of the service award were also thwarted.
In the wake of these allegations, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), in May, issued travel sanctions against Speaker Among. The UK also froze all her assets.
“...Anita Among is designated due to her involvement in significant corruption tied to her leadership of Uganda’s Parliament,” the US Department of State said in a statement.
It is this exhibition that also partly gave birth to the July “March to Parliament” protests where sections of Ugandan youth attempted to walk to Parliament, demanding the resignation of Ms. Among. The protests were largely thwarted by security agencies armed to the teeth, who arrested and jailed the youth in hundreds even before they made their way to Parliament.
A combination of photos taken on July 23, 2024 shows young Ugandans taking part in the anti-graft March to Parliament protest in Kampala. PHOTO/ISAAC KASAMANI
New face of activism
According to a report on the exhibition titled Citizen Voices Curated and Amplified: Charting the Path to Accountability Uganda, and launched by Agora Discourse in June, the campaign was aimed at fighting corruption, and an attempt to hold leaders accountable, push for accountability, transparency, and good governance.
“...It is evident that there was a significant outcry against corruption and the wastage of public funds within Uganda’s Parliament... Push for reforms within the parliamentary system to ensure ethical standards are upheld and that the interests of the public are prioritized over personal gain,” the report reads in part.
It was also a major mark in the shifting forms of activism, the front runners noted. “At first, activism in Uganda was mainly physical, but with the country’s harsh political landscape, where people are teargassed and killed, digital activism has evolved as a new form of protest,” the report further noted.
It added: “Amid this environment, digital platforms, particularly social media, offered a platform for individuals to express these sentiments and amplify their voices beyond conventional avenues. Through hashtags such as #UgandaParliamentExhibition, digital activists mobilized communities, raised awareness about social issues, and garnered support for advocacy endeavors.”
Accountability
While the Inspectorate of Government pulled out of conducting an investigation into the issues raised, a forensic audit launched by the Office of the Auditor General remains under wraps to date.
Despite this, or in fact because of it, the financial dealings in the House remain a hot topic. On Tuesday, Ms Among rejected requests by the Equal Opportunities Commission, and the Ministry of Public Service to hand over a report detailing how much each MP and staff at Parliament are paid.
According to her, Parliament is an independent body that shouldn’t account to these bodies.
“When you look at Article 85, emoluments of MPs, that is self-explanatory. Is it correct for Equal Opportunities to go beyond its powers and come and start investigating what they aren’t supposed to?” she asked.
