The Anti-Corruption court has issued a warrant of arrest for parliament office supervisor Stella Itute after she failed to appear in court to answer charges related to the alleged embezzlement of parliamentary funds.Grade one magistrate Esther Asiimwe issued the warrant today, Monday, following an application by prosecutors from the Inspectorate of Government (IG), who told the court that repeated efforts to trace Itute had been unsuccessful.Itute is jointly charged with seven other parliament officials over alleged embezzlement, money laundering and causing financial loss to the government amounting to more than Shs 27 billion.Her co-accused are Chris Obore Ariko, the director of communications and public affairs; 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; and Methods Murebe, chief executive officer of the Uganda Parliamentary Cooperative Savings and Credit Society (Sacco).According to the charge sheet, Itute is accused of embezzling Shs 75 million, the smallest amount allegedly misappropriated by any of the accused persons. Sources indicate that when her co-accused were arrested earlier this month, she was on leave from parliament.The charge sheet alleges that Obore embezzled 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 and Otebata Shs 5.253 billion.Prosecutors contend that the accused used their positions in parliament to access and divert funds earmarked for parliamentary donations and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, resulting in a financial loss of Shs 27.201 billion to the Government of Uganda.In addition to the corruption-related charges, Obore, Adilo, Okema, Rajab Kaaya Ssemalulu, Otebata and Murebe are also charged with money laundering. The prosecution alleges that between January 2023 and April 2026, the six processed, approved and received Shs 10.893 billion, knowing the money was the proceeds of crime.Brenda Kimbugwe, the IG’s manager of prosecutions, told the court that all the accused persons were present except Itute, whose whereabouts remained unknown.“We have been trying to locate her for a long time without success. We therefore pray for a warrant of arrest,” Kimbugwe told the court.A lawyer holding brief for defence counsel Asuman Basalirwa said he could not account for Itute’s whereabouts because he was only representing Basalirwa, who had not yet arrived in court.After hearing both sides, magistrate Asiimwe granted the prosecution’s application and ordered all police officers in Uganda to arrest Itute on sight and produce her before the Anti-Corruption court on August 10, 2026, when the case returns for mention.Meanwhile, the court was informed that the High court is scheduled to hear bail applications filed by Itute’s co-accused on August 3, 2026. Defence lawyers asked the magistrate to issue production warrants to enable prison authorities to present the accused before the High court for the hearing.However, magistrate Asiimwe declined the request, explaining that production warrants for proceedings before the High court can only be issued by that court.“If the High court fixed the bail hearing, it will issue the necessary production warrants,” the magistrate ruled.The accused, who have been on remand since July 2, 2026, were returned to Luzira Prison, where they will remain until August 10 as investigations continue.The post Obore further remanded as court issues arrest warrant for parliament office supervisor Itute appeared first on The Observer Media Ltd.