Parliament’s director of communications and public affairs, Chris Obore Ariko, has been remanded to Luzira Prison until July 7 after being charged with a string of corruption-related offences, including embezzlement, money laundering and causing financial loss involving more than Shs 37 billion.
Obore was remanded by the Anti-Corruption court alongside Daniel Adilo, director of human resource; Leonard Okema, executive secretary in the Office of the Speaker; Rajab Kaaya Ssemalulu, principal research officer; Emmanuel Emuron Okwi, principal protocol officer; Vincent Otebata, capacity development officer, all employees of Parliament of Uganda; and Methods Murebe, chief executive officer of the Uganda Parliamentary Cooperative Savings and Credit Society (Sacco).
They are jointly charged with Stella Itute, office supervisor in the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms, who was charged in absentia. The accused appeared before grade one magistrate Esther Asiimwe, who read out nine charges, including embezzlement, causing financial loss and money laundering.
However, the magistrate did not allow them to take plea, explaining that the Anti-Corruption court lacks jurisdiction to try money laundering offences, which are reserved for the High court.
The charges, sanctioned by the Inspector General of Government (IGG), justice Aisha Naluze Batiibwe, and presented by the Inspectorate of Government, allege that the offences were committed between 2023 and May 2026.
According to the charge sheet, Obore is accused of embezzling Shs 5.253 billion; Adilo Shs 14.609 billion; Okema Shs 3.489 billion; Rajab Kaaya Ssemalulu Shs 2.170 billion; Emmanuel Emuron Okwi Shs 1.105 billion; Stella Itute Shs 75 million; and Vincent Otebata Shs 5.253 billion.
The prosecution alleges that the money belonged to Parliament of Uganda and was accessed by the accused by virtue of their respective offices.
Prosecutors further allege that all the accused, except Methods Murebe, received funds earmarked for parliament’s donations and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities but failed to implement the intended programmes, thereby causing a financial loss of Shs 27.201 billion to the Government of Uganda.
In addition, Obore, Adilo, Okema, Rajab Kaaya Ssemalulu, Otebata and Murebe face a charge of money laundering. The prosecution alleges that between January 2023 and April 2026, the six processed, approved and received Shs 10.893 billion, allegedly knowing that the funds were proceeds of crime.
State Attorney Daisy Acio, supervisor of prosecutions in the IGG’s office, asked the court to adjourn the matter to enable the state to prepare committal papers before the accused are presented before the High court to take plea on the money laundering charges.
The accused, through their lawyers, applied to be furnished with copies of the charge sheet and sought a short adjournment to enable them to prepare their defence. One of the defence lawyers, Ibrahim Kikaabe, also asked the court to fix an early return date to allow the defence to prepare and file bail applications.
Magistrate Asiimwe granted the prosecution’s request and remanded all the accused to Luzira Prison until July 7, 2026, when the matter will return to court as investigations continue.
The accused were arrested on Tuesday at the Inspectorate of Government offices after they had been summoned to record additional statements.
Our reporter has learnt that some of the accused, including Obore, left their mobile phones at Parliament, apparently expecting to return to their offices shortly after recording the statements.
In other words, Chris O has fallen out of things.
In the Social media clip that went around: at a victory celebration party and in the campany of Dr. Odoi Tanga (NRM Electoral Commission Chairperson), I could not imagine how Chris Obore grovelled at the feet of the former Speaker, Anita Among and sang like a total idiot, “we are in things”!
Obore, go get some small small witchcraft from Maama Lususu Annet Among.
When all these BILLIONS get stolen and there is no visible financial crisis within the authority that budgeted for this money , it means that numbers were maliciously fudged .
When thieves steal BILLIONS , it means that our currency has lost so much value , and that the question of currency depreciation must be addressed .
It also means that if your net worth is valued in millions instead of billions , you dear , do not belong to the middle class anymore; you belong to the surviving class .
If our currency depreciation is not contained , it means that very soon , we are going to carry sacks of cash to the market , because consumer goods will cost millions instead of thousands.
Betty, in the eyes of our primitive Supreme Leader, however valueless (worthless) the currency; the numerous the digits (in trillion), the wealthier he thinks the economy! Stupid!
That was partly how he came up with the Shs.50,000 Banknote denomination.
E.g., when he bloody mass murdered his way into our State House in 1986, he scoffed at the Shs.500 billion GDP. And yet in a state of insecurity and war he was subjecting the country, with that amount Ugandans were not that indebted and/or badly off in as far as the social services in Education and Health were concern:
With a Shs.500 billion GDP: Rich or poor, Ugandans children would still go to the same Primary and Secondary (Day/Boarding) schools, and get equal and the best education out of them.
With a Shs.500 billion GDP: Rich or poor (without a penny in their names), Ugandans would still go to nearest Dispensary or Hospital and got the best medical attention.
But today, you educate your children at your own risk.
And today, you fall sick and even die at your own risk.
That is dire level these criminals have brought Ugandans to their knees. It hurts bad!
I hear you friend !
When Mr. Museveni arrived , he was wise enough then to borrow some logic from men who knew things. The lates Mayanja Nkangi , Professor Mulema , Haji Kafumbe Mukasa . Zakary Olum . Joseph Mulenga , Ssebana Kizito and others . They advised him that :
1- because the shilling had lost so much value, the remedy against having to use a lot of currency-paper and coins money -in exchange for goods and services was to “cut off ” 3 zeros.
2- because of the chaos that was caused by the war, many people , especially the corrupt thieves of the day , had withdrawn their “gains” from the Banks and hidden the money under their beds , or run away from the country with millions of lots of cash = setting up a liquidity trap ,the solution was to change the currency and force everyone to have to retrieve whatever they had and bring it back into circulation.
40 years later , we have a Gen.Museveni who takes no advice from those who know things. This one is surrounded by “robbers” who benefit from the visible inflation . They are not ashamed to talk percentages – percentages that are far from the actuality of the economic situation down the ground .
Within a very short time , even a simple Ugandan who does not grasp micro economics has come to the know how billions can be stolen through budgeting .
People such as Anita Among , Chris Obore, Jom Muwhezi and the like are not going to tell their Supreme Leader to “cut off “zeros .Their mattresses are made of ill-gotten gains.
While we are stuck in the dilemma ,if you are not a millionaire in Uganda , you are categorized as “poor”
Those are the Anita among products let them fill the pain of enjoying our tax payer money.