Kitutu begs Museveni to order DPP off iron sheet trial

Official sources in the Office of the President were yesterday unable to confirm reports that a minister accused of corruption has appealed to President Museveni, requesting he directs the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to drop the charges.

Karamoja Affairs minister Mary Goretti Kitutu has reportedly made the request seeking the reprieve for herself and two other ministers.

Altogether, the ministers are being prosecuted for crimes they allegedly committed in connection with the infamous Karamoja iron sheets scam.

The separate corruption trials of Ms Kitutu and colleagues are still at an early stage. Under Ugandan law, the accused ministers enjoy the constitutional right to be presumed innocent until a verdict is reached either way by court.

Sources close to the minister yesterday confirmed to the Monitor Ms Kitutu has taken this unprecedented step as she bids to avoid a potential 10-year jail term, a Shs4.8 million fine, or both, if found guilty. It was not clear by press time how the President will react to the minister’s reported request.

Mr Farouk Kirunda, the deputy press secretary to the President, told the Monitor he was unaware of this turn in events.

“I can’t confirm receipt of this letter because I have not seen it as a person. I don’t know which channel she (Minister Kitutu) used to deliver it,” he said.

However, on April 3 last year Mr Museveni had taken an uncompromising stand, writing to Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja a strongly-worded letter in which he denounced public officials named in the scandal, saying they indulged in subversion, undermined the country’s security and should be charged with theft of public resources.

In a signed letter dated December 20, 2023, Ms Kitutu suggests to the head of state that the charges preferred against them instead be settled politically.

“Your Excellency, our prayers from all us ministers affected are; we ask for pardon and forgiveness from you and we are sorry for whatever happened,” the letter to President Museveni reads.

“We kindly ask you as the fountain of honour to direct the DPP’s office to drop all charges against all the accused and allow the matter to be solved politically through discussions.”

Ms Kitutu’s proposal appears to invite the President to break the law by violating the Constitution.

 Uganda’s supreme law, in Article 120(6), shields the DPP from the influence of anybody or any authority while carrying out the functions of that office, suggesting therefore that not even the President can legally intervene.

The constitutional provision lays out that “…In the exercise of the functions conferred on him or her by this Article (120 sub-Article 6), the Director of Public Prosecutions shall not be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority”.

The other two ministers who have been arraigned before the Anti-Corruption Court over the iron sheets saga are Ms Agnes Nandutu, State minister for Karamoja Affairs, and Mr Amos Lugoloobi, State minister for planning in the Finance ministry.

Ms Kitutu, who is also Manafwa District Woman MP, thanks the President for keeping the accused in Cabinet despite what she claimed was negative media coverage of the saga.

 Ever since the scandal broke in early 2023, news reports have covered how and why Ms Kitutu and others are accused of illegally diverting thousands of iron sheets meant for peace-building efforts involving vulnerable people in the restive and impoverished Karamoja sub-region.

The minister, however, sought to play victim of a purported media witch-hunt in her letter to the President.

“Your Excellency, together with my colleagues Hon Agnes Nandutu and Mr Amos Lugoloobi, we begin by first expressing our gratitude to you for having kept us on Cabinet despite the intense negative publicity that was awash by the media for more than five months since February this year (2023). We thank you for the fatherly decision and pray that God blesses you more.” she states.

She also pleads that she has learnt her lesson, and begs the President for a pardon with a promise to embark on fighting corruption as an NRM cadre.

“Your Excellency, we have learned our lessons as individuals and we ask for pardon from you. It is very costly to be in these courts and the most depressing thing we have faced as ministers is when the technical officers, including the accounting officers who were part of the problem and have caused more loss of 11,006 iron sheets are paraded as state witnesses by the DPP against us,” the minister writes.

“Finally, your Excellency, as a father of the nation, we are your daughters and sons. In a family, children can make mistakes but many times the parents have some window of pardon and forgiveness. As I had earlier mentioned together with my colleague ministers, who are facing court, we highly appreciate your leniency in keeping us on [in] Cabinet. We have always wanted to meet you but securing an appointment has not been forthcoming. On behalf of my colleagues with whom we are all in agreement, I wish to give our apology to you as a head of state for whatever mistakes were made in the iron sheets saga.”

Mid-last year, the DPP started prosecuting Ms Kitutu for her alleged role in the diversion of 14,500 iron sheets meant for the vulnerable people of Karamoja. She denied the charges of causing loss of public property and conspiracy to defraud.

It’s the prosecution’s case that Ms Kitutu between June 2022 and January 2023, at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) stores in Namanve, Mukono District, caused the loss of public property including 9,000 pre-painted gauge 28 iron sheets by diverting them from the intended recipients under the Karamoja Community Empowerment Programme (KCEP).

Under count two, the minister is accused of causing the loss of another 5,500 iron sheets.

Yesterday evening, Mr Lugoloobi told the Monitor: “I don’t want to engage in that political debate,” before bursting out in laughter. “Whether she wrote to the President with my consent or not, I don’t want to comment on that,” he managed between fits of laughter.

For her part, Ms Nandutu was terse, saying: “I’m not the one who wrote the letter, ask the author”.

Last year, the iron sheets scandal sucked in several Cabinet ministers, including Vice President Jessica Alupo, Prime Minister Nabbanja, and also Speaker of Parliament Anita Among. But an unspecified number of ministers seem to have been let off the hook after the DPP reportedly withdrew intentions to prosecute purportedly for want of evidence.

Museveni’s earlier view

In his April 3 letter to the prime minister, the President had promised unspecified political action against whoever participated in the ”theft” of the Karamoja iron sheets.

“Those involved must both bring back the mabaati or equivalent value in money but also be handled by the police under the criminal laws of the country. I will also take political action once the police has concluded their investigations,” he wrote.

The President described the alleged theft as a form of corruption, additionally observing that it compromised national security.

“If somebody, took mabaati (iron sheets) meant for the karacuna (Karimojong warriors) and gave them to people or institutions in his or her constituency, this is political corruption,” he said.

“It is like bribing voters so as to get political favours. In the case of the mabaati, it is at the expense of the karacuna, but also at the expense of security of the country.

“Those ministers are, therefore, undermining that in exchange [for] cheap popularity. This is actually subversive. Under the NRA (1980-‘86 bush war National Resistance Army) Code, cheap popularity is characterised as subversive,” President Museveni told the PM.

 The President explained that distributing the iron sheets to Karimojong warriors was part of efforts to stop them from causing insecurity.

 Uganda’s security forces have long been carrying out operations, including disarmament of armed cattle rustlers (among them karacuna), in the marginalised sub-region. The army’s efforts are complemented by affirmative action schemes such as the KCEP under which the stolen iron sheets should have been distributed.

In his letter, the President said ministers who took the iron sheets for personal use cannot claim that they made a political mistake, insisting that “they engaged in theft…”.

As such, he told Ms Nabbanja ministers who were consciously involved in the diversion of the iron sheets “must take personal responsibility, pay back the value of the mabaati they diverted and I will decide on the political action to punish this mistake.”

Those who were unconsciously involved should also return the iron sheets, if they are still available, or personally reimburse the value of the iron sheets they took, he added.

More iron sheets missing

Ms Kitutu’s letter titled, “Update on the distribution of iron sheets under the Ministry for Karamoja Affairs,” also reveals that a completely different batch of up to 11,006 iron sheets has now disappeared from the OPM stores in Namanve.

“Your Excellency, I have directed the new permanent secretary to follow up and find out how the shortfall of 11,006 came about in the OPM stores because this is not part of the 14,500 iron sheets that were alleged to have been stolen by the ministers,” she stated.

Ms Kitutu said she received a phone call on December 16, 2023, from the acting undersecretary, Mr Norbert Kasirabo about how only 1,344 iron sheets remained in the OPM stores, leaving a shortfall of 11,006 iron sheets, yet the district of Napak has not received.

“As a result, I sought authorisation from the prime minister and it was granted to revise the work plan of 2023/24 and reallocate funds to cater for the procurement and distribution of the 21,796 iron sheets. This activity is being implemented by the new permanent secretary together with the acting undersecretary.” the minister informed the President.

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