Kampala – In a surprising turn of events, the Chairperson of the Parliament’s Budget Committee, Patrick Isiagi Opolot, was released by the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) on Thursday after voluntarily presenting himself for questioning.
Isiagi, the Member of Parliament for Kachumbala County, had been summoned to CID Headquarters to shed light on the sudden increase in the budget for cooperatives’ compensations for war losses, which rose from less than Shs 10bn to Shs 30bn in the financial year 2022/2023.
According to sources, Isiagi, who had just returned from a trip to Indonesia, cooperated fully with investigators, explaining the budgeting process and providing valuable insights. He was subsequently allowed to leave without charges.
This development comes on the heels of the arrest and remand of three MPs and two others implicated in a separate corruption scandal involving the defrauding of the government of over Shs 7.3 billion.
The CID’s move to release Isiagi suggests that he was not implicated in any wrongdoing and was merely assisting with the investigation. His cooperation is seen as a positive step towards transparency and accountability in the budgeting process.
The investigation is ongoing, and it remains to be seen whether any other MPs or officials will be implicated in the budget irregularities.
