The UGX17.7b Parliament Corporate Social Responsibility Heist

By Agather Atuhaire & Toko Godwin

Seventeen billion seven hundred thirty-three million eight hundred and sixty-five thousand Uganda Shillings (UGX 17,733,865,000) is what eight Parliament of Uganda staff stacked in their private accounts for what was called “corporate social responsibility” according to the vouchers seen by Agora. The vouchers made public during the #UgandaParliamentExhibition, an exposé about corruption at Parliament run on social media by Agora in 2024, show the staff withdrew money on 103 different occasions in a space of 12 months between January 15, 2023, and January 23, 2024.

When the public demanded answers, the explanation was that the money was used for the institution’s corporate social responsibility where the leadership of parliament was using this money to build health centres, schools, mosques, donate to women saccos, among others.

So, what is corporate social responsibility? The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) defines Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as, “Responsibility of enterprises for their impact in society.” According to UNESCO, CSR is essentially a business model that helps corporations be socially accountable to themselves, their stakeholders, and the public. The concept of CSR is relatively new, emerging in economist Howard Bowen’s 1953 book, “Social Responsibility of a Businessman”. Initially, CSR competed with the conventional understanding of businesses as profit-driven entities serving shareholders, as articulated by Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman: “There is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game…”. However, as businesses evolved, the call for greater responsibility gained traction, and CSR became more prominent.

By its nature, CSR is typically associated with corporations and businesses, tied to their profits. This raises questions about why the Parliament of Uganda, an arm of government under the 1995 Constitution, is engaged in CSR activities, investing state funds rather than corporate profits. Notably, there is no evidence of other government entities carrying out CSR activities.  In the 2024/25 budget, State House received UGX136,539,969,000 billion for donations, but this is distinct from CSR. Uganda’s Parliament only recently introduced CSR into its budget in 2022, following Anita Among’s election as Speaker. In Uganda, only the Uganda Communications Commission, (UCC), has a CSR Policy. In 2022, the communications regulator released its Corporate Philanthropy and Social Responsibility (CP&SR) policy. UCC is a government parastatal, different from Parliament which is an arm of government.

Corporations like MTN Uganda have clearly defined CSR objectives in education, health, and economic empowerment, but Parliament’s CSR efforts seem undefined and without any criteria.

Be that as it may, Agora did further investigations to find out whether this money was spent on the activities claimed on the vouchers. According to the vouchers, the bulk of this money was said to have been spent on activities in Bukedea, a district with a population of 282,864 people. This also happens to be the district that the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among comes from and is their District woman representative in Parliament. In total, UGX 1,840,000,000/= was signed off for seven activities in Bukedea. On July 24, 2023, under voucher number A11/JUL/2023, Adilo signed for UGX 750,000,000 being an advance for the speaker’s community empowerment workshop in Bukedea for July 2023. Teso as a region – excluding Bukedea – received at least UGX 1,430,000,00 for 10 projects, followed by Busoga that allegedly received UGX 550,000,000 for six projects. Bukedea is in Teso region, and the large sums of money claimed to have been invested there may suggest that the Speaker is using Parliament’s budget to bolster her political standing in her home region. Relatedly, the Speaker’s husband, Hashim Magogo comes from Busoga. Shortly after her election as Deputy Speaker in 2021, she addressed a public gathering in Busoga and said she wanted to be the new Mama Busoga. “Everybody is equal in Busoga, and I want to tell you, I am going to be the Mama Busoga…”, she said in an apparent dig at her political nemesis and former Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga who hails from Busoga and was always called ‘Mama Busoga’.   

When Agora tried to follow this money it was discovered that over 90 per cent of the activities claimed to have been conducted with these funds were not conducted. 

These are some of our findings:

1. Donations to various initiatives in Bukedea District. 

Donations worth an estimated UGX 1.825 billion to various women’s groups, SACCOs, and associations of market venders in Bukedea between February and October 2023.

Most of the groups we asked deny receiving the said funds. Kanyanga Women’s group and Okouba Youth Saving group, recorded as having received UGX 90 million each acknowledged receiving UGX 5 million. Specifically, the chairperson of Aminanara ka Apol in Kidongole subcounty denied receiving funds or benefitting from the said programme. Other groups such as Achelas Aja Savings and Credit Association, Aipecitoi Saving Group, and Aloet Market Vendors said they received nothing. One SACCO, Bukedea Crime Preventers SACCO was found as non-existent having been dissolved in 2018. 

Our investigators were threatened and ordered to leave Kolir subcounty by the RDC as they did the investigations. 

• Donations to Nalango Primary School in Kamuli District.

The speaker allegedly donated UGX 80 million to Primary School and

Kyai Subcounty in Kamuli district. The school head teacher and school management committee stated that no such funds were received by the school. No photographic or documentary evidence linking the alleged UGX 80 million to Nalango Primary School was recorded.

• Irimbi Health Centre II, Namutumba District.

The documents show that UGX 50 million was sent to Irimbi Health Centre II in Namutumba district, a government-funded health centre. 

All the staff we interviewed stated that no equipment or such funding was received by the facility.

UGX 5,000,000 was donated to launch a book titled “Become a Successful You”. However, Agora’s investigation around bookshops including Aristoc Uganda, the country’s largest bookstore, found no record of this book, despite voucher number A262/OCT/2023 reflecting that the money was allocated to the book launch.

Under voucher number A186/APR/2023, Obore, Parliament’s Director of Communications   signed for UGX 15,000,000 allegedly used as a medical advance for the treatment of Angura James Mandoko. While no further detail is given on who Angura is, records at the Electoral Commission shows that someone named Angura James Micheal Mandoko unsuccessfully ran as directly elected councillor in Bukedea and polled 1,258 votes losing to Okwii John Michael. A search on google led us to a LinkedIn profile of Angura who’s status shows his job title as Principal Legal Counsel at Parliament of Uganda. Similarly, on September 23, 2023, Businge Fred signed for UGX 2,000,000 as advance for contribution towards the treatment of one Duncan.

Some of the larger sums of money were registered under ambiguous projects without providing more details. Using voucher number A158/APR/2023 Rajab signed for UGX 198,000,000 for the Speaker’s donation to the girl child project. He also signed for another UGX 300,000,000 for the Speaker’s Corporate Social Responsibility Undertakings to various individuals and groups. Leonard, who received UGX 2,000,000,000, allegedly spent the money on economic empowerment programs in central, northern, western, and eastern regions, with no further details provided.

In August 2022, the speaker promised to donate solar solar panels to Arua Hospital. 

At the time, Arua was facing persistent and chronic loadshedding, which, among other things, affected services at the regional referral hospital. The promise was initially made to a group from West Nile who had petitioned her office about the issue. This promise became the basis of all arguments in favour of the CSR programme from her supporters, who argued that it addressed a critical gap – state bureaucracy – that would otherwise delay such help and potentially cost lives, particularly those of expectant mothers. A team from Agora visited Arua Regional Referral Hospital in mid-2025 and found that no solar panels had been donated to the hospital. They also learned that hospital staff had spent considerable time following up on the promise, eventually giving up in frustration. These findings were made public through social media.

On October 28, 2025, weeks after Agora’s revelation– a journalist from Arua confirmed that the donation had finally been made. However, the estimated cost was UGX 80 million, significantly less than the initial UGX 250 million promised.   

Accountability questions loom large.

The lack of transparency and accountability raises concerns about the use of CSR funds. Unlike private companies, Parliament has not registered a trust or established clear guidelines for CSR activities. Further investigations by Agora Centre for Research reveal that between June and August 2025, several projects allegedly funded under the parliament CSR report didn’t receive the money. Back to the Arua donation, would it have been fulfilled without the Agora exposé?