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Iron sheet saga: Opposition MPs join campaign to kick out Kitutu
The minister-in-charge of Karamoja Affairs, Ms Mary Goretti Kitutu. PHOTO/ FILE
What you need to know:
- The MPs said ministers and other government officials have continued to plunder the country at a time when we are going through economic turmoil.
- Three family members of Ms Kitutu, including her mother, brother and nephew, were on Sunday arrested for allegedly allocating themselves iron sheets meant for people in Karamoja.
The Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) have joined their colleagues from Karamoja in demanding for the immediate resignation of Mary Gorreti Kitutu, the minister for Karamoja Affairs, over allegations of corruption and abuse of office.
The MPs also demanded that she and other ministers implicated in the scandal be prosecuted for abuse of office and causing loss of government property.
While addressing a press conference at Parliament yesterday, Mityana Woman MP Joyce Bagala Ntwatwa, also the shadow minister for ICT and national guidance, said if left to pass, the culprits will continue to cause more mayhem to taxpayers’ resources, which she said they have been doing at liberty.
“We are deeply concerned about the increasing widespread corruption in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). As the country is aware, several ministers of the regime are on the spot for allegedly allocating themselves iron sheets that were procured to support the poor in Karamoja Sub-region. All the implicated persons should be tried under the Anti-Corruption Act,” she said.
“We demand the immediate resignation of minister Kitutu, short of which I am going to rally the entire Parliament to support her censure as proposed by the Karamoja Parliamentary Group. We are also demanding a proper inquest into this scandal because a number of ministers and government officials have been mentioned,” she added.
Three family members of Ms Kitutu, including her mother, brother and nephew, were on Sunday arrested for allegedly allocating themselves iron sheets meant for people in Karamoja.
The MPs said ministers and other government officials have continued to plunder the country at a time when we are going through economic turmoil.
Last week, the Permanent Secretary in the Finance ministry and Secretary to the Treasury, Mr Ramadhan Ggoobi, issued instructions to cut down government expenditure on items like travel.
Wakiso Woman MP Betty Ethel Naluyima, also the shadow minister for Local Government, said government must come up with a proper format for providing aid to different communities across the country.
“When, for example you consider the issue of Busi County where fire broke out in December 2021, and they wrote to the OPM, but up to date, the people of Busi County are still waiting for the aid,” she said.
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She wondered how government selects people to benefit from aid and those delivering it because, according to her, many of them have requested for such aid, but have never received a response.
Mukono North MP Abdallah Kiwanuka, also shadow minister for Internal Affairs, said all government institutions created to fight corruption have been rendered toothless because the people involved in corruption are more powerful than the institutions. He challenged government to rein in on its corrupt officials.
