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I may not have seen the Speaker’s post, but it was drawn to my attention via the X time line of Anthony Natif (@TonyNatif). He re-posed it with a caption, “the rich families that truly own our politicians:” “I want to express my gratitude to Prasad and the Dott family for their commitment to friendship…

I may not have seen the Speaker’s post, but it was drawn to my attention via the X time line of Anthony Natif (@TonyNatif). He re-posed it with a caption, “the rich families that truly own our politicians:”

“I want to express my gratitude to Prasad and the Dott family for their commitment to friendship and for the vital role they play in our economy and development,” Speaker Anita Annet Among wrote on her X timeline

So, I went on Google search to find out who the “Dott family” is. Not necessarily that I am convinced that the Speakers of Parliament are owned by them, but to, first of all know who they are.

I chose to click on the Wikipedia link “Dott Services” and learnt something about who they are:

“A Ugandan company, one of the leading companies in the engineering and construction fields, in the African Great Lakes Region.”

Meaning, Natif is probably right in characterising them rich.

But, being rich and being friends with a politician does not necessarily confirm the rich one owns the politician.

So, I went on another Google search with keywords “scandal Dott Services.” Among the top results were:

“Court pokes holes in UNRA probe report,” by The Observer Team and published on 18^th January 2017. In which The Observer reported Court ruled:

“It was an error of fact and law for the commission to treat the applicants as public officials who had to help the government save money amidst irregularity in the management of UNRA (Uganda National Roads Authority.”

“Museveni asks UNRA to explain why Dott Services’ contract was terminated,” published by SoftPower on 8^th November 2017. Again, in this too, nothing to indicate that Dott Services is getting favors from politicians.

“Court throws out Shs. 21 billion UNRA case against Dott Services,” by Anthony Wekesa and published on 5^th July 2021, by Daily Monitor. In which Wekesa reports that Court:

“Found no fault against Dott Services and PEC as alleged by UNRA while carrying out the reconstruction works on Tororo-Mbale and Mbale-Soroti roads over a decade.”

“Parliament pressures Dott Services over ongoing road project delays,” by Prisca Wanyenya and published on 24^th August 2024 by Parliament Watch. Again, nothing to indicate favors from politicians to Dott Services.

This does not necessarily mean the allegation that Dott Services “owns politicians” is false. But certainly, we would need much more than photographs of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker at a wedding of a “Dott family” member.

Which begs the question, why then did Natif insinuate it? Is there much more than meets the eye?

This post is a sample of my work. As a blogger and fact-checker, I am mostly doing it for no pay. Mostly as a passion, but would welcome paying gigs. I would welcome any links you can give me to paying gigs.

Photo @ Speaker Anita Annet Among on X