A major security and forensic operation unfolded at Parliament on Tuesday morning as a team of investigators descended on the offices of former Speaker of Parliament Anita Among to gather fresh evidence in an escalating corruption investigation.
The investigators, who arrived at around 9am in several vehicles including a specialised Evidence Collection Van, immediately accessed the fifth floor of Parliament, where the former Speaker’s offices are located. Part of the floor was subsequently designated a crime scene as detectives and forensic experts carried out extensive searches.
The latest operation comes barely a day after Ms Among dramatically withdrew from the race for Speaker, a move that has intensified political speculation surrounding the widening probe.
Sources at Parliament said the team comprised officers from the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), forensic auditors and members of the UPDF attached to the joint security operation that has in recent days targeted several properties linked to the former Speaker.
The security crackdown has already seen coordinated searches conducted at a number of residences associated with Ms Among, including high-end homes in Kampala and Wakiso District, as investigators pursue what insiders describe as a rapidly expanding corruption case.
Inside Parliament, access to sections of the fifth floor was heavily restricted as investigators combed through offices and collected documentary and electronic evidence believed to be relevant to the inquiry.
The presence of an Evidence Collection Van at Parliament signaled a deeper forensic phase of the investigation, with specialists expected to retrieve digital records, financial documents and other material from the Speaker’s chambers.
The dramatic scenes at Parliament mark one of the most unprecedented investigations to directly target the office of a sitting or former Speaker in recent political history, sending shockwaves through the country’s political establishment.
Neither Parliament nor the security agencies had by Tuesday afternoon issued an official statement detailing the specific allegations under investigation. However, the continued deployment of joint security teams and forensic personnel points to a high-level operation with potentially far-reaching political implications.
The developments now place renewed focus on the events that led to Ms Among’s abrupt withdrawal from the Speakership contest, amid mounting pressure and growing scrutiny over alleged financial impropriety within Parliament.
