Details of the state house meeting that caused the downfall of Anita Among -

By the time President Museveni summoned senior religious leaders and top political figures to State House Entebbe last Thursday, the mood inside Uganda’s power circles had already turned tense.

What began as a discreet conversation about corruption in Parliament would, within days, spiral into one of the most dramatic political crackdowns in recent years, ending with raids on the homes of former Speaker Anita Annet Among, the seizure of luxury vehicles and her eventual withdrawal from the race for Speaker of the 12th Parliament.

According to multiple sources familiar with the closedmeeting, Museveni spoke with unusual bluntness.

Present in the room were Uganda Joint Christian Council chairperson Anthony Zziwa, Archbishop Moses Odongo and former Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.

The President, sources said, told the clerics he had invited them because he feared the country was approaching a dangerous political moment, one where the extravagant lifestyles of senior leaders were beginning to anger ordinary citizens and even members of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces.

Museveni was reportedly particularly disturbed by what he viewed as the growing display of wealth by some parliamentary leaders at a time many Ugandans, including soldiers, were struggling economically.

At the centre of the discussion was Anita Among.

Sources said Museveni pointed to her Rolls Royce, expensive designer outfits and multiple luxury properties spread across Kampala and eastern Uganda as examples of excess that risked creating resentment inside the security establishment.

Among’s known properties reportedly include a high end residence in Nakasero near the President’s own residence, a sprawling four storey mansion overlooking Lake Victoria in Kigo and an expansive country estate in Bukedea.

Our bishops are here. Tell them where you get the money from,” Museveni reportedly told Among during the tense meeting.

The room reportedly fell silent

According to insiders, Museveni had already received intelligence briefings alleging that a network of politically connected lawmakers working through parliamentary committees and officials in the Finance Ministry had been inflating government budgets to create room for large scale diversion of public funds.

The President was also reportedly angered by reports that Among had increased her personal foreign travel per diem from the official $900 to about $4,500

“I get money from my rich friends,” Among reportedly replied.

“Which friends?” Museveni asked.

“They are many, Your Excellency, including Ham,” she allegedly responded, referring to businessman Hamis Kiggundu.

“But do these rich people give you all this money?” Museveni reportedly pressed. “Tell them where you get the money from.”

Sources said Museveni then advised Among to quietly step away from the Speakership race to ease pressure on both Parliament and the ruling National Resistance Movement.

To the President, it was meant to be a soft landing

But according to insiders, Museveni soon realised Among had no intention of backing down.

After leaving State House, sources claim, Among did not communicate any willingness to withdraw. Instead, she allegedly instructed aides to begin designing campaign posters portraying her as an independent candidate for Speaker.

That move reportedly infuriated the President.

A senior presidential aide said Museveni immediately ordered Chief of Defence Forces Muhoozi Kainerugaba to coordinate a joint security investigation targeting Among and key allies.

Soon, surveillance around her homes intensified.then came the raids.

Security operatives descended on Among’s Nakasero residence before expanding operations to her heavily fortified mansion in Kigo, a property sources describe as resembling a private fortress built with reinforced concrete, heavy steel structures and bullet resistant glass.

Luxury

Investigators reportedly seized phones, electronic devices, documents and financial records.

Luxury vehicles, including a Rolls Royce and a Range Rover bearing the personalised registration “AAA,” were later towed under armed escort to Police Forensics Headquarters in Naguru.

The recovered materials are now expected to form part of potential court exhibits should prosecutors approve criminal charges.

By Monday morning, the political pressure had become overwhelming.

Among released a statement withdrawing from the Speakership race.

“I wish to categorically and unequivocally state that I will not be offering myself for the Speakership race of the 12th Parliament,” she said.

She also pledged cooperation with investigators.

But inside Uganda’s political establishment, many believe the withdrawal marked more than the end of a Speakership campaign.

For some, it signalled the collapse of one of the most powerful political networks that had emerged around Parliament in recent years.

For others, it exposed growing anxiety within the state itself, particularly fears that public anger over corruption and elite extravagance could eventually spill beyond politics and into the security forces that have long formed the backbone of Museveni’s rule.