Minister Kitutu granted bail

The Anti-Corruption Court chief magistrate Joan Aciro has granted a cash bail of Shs10 million to embattled Karamoja Affairs Minister, Ms Mary Goretti Kitutu who has been in custody for a week.

Her younger brother, Michael Naboya Kitutu was also granted a cash bail of Shs3 million during the Friday court proceedings.
Her sureties were each bonded at Shs200 million, not cash, while her brother’s sureties were each bonded at Shs100 million, also not cash.

The magistrate said that since the prosecution did not object to the second set of sureties led by the Minister of State for the Elderly, Mr Gidudu Mafabi, court found them substantial.
Ms Kitutu is facing two counts of causing loss of public property and one count of conspiracy to defraud for her role in the Karamoja iron sheets scandal.

Friday’s court proceedings came two days after on Wednesday evening, Ms Kitutu was sent back to Luzira prison after the Anti-Corruption Court ruled that three of the four sureties presented, who included her husband, Micheal George Kitutu, were not sufficiently substantial. The magistrate observed that the three sureties failed to demonstrate a financial ability to execute the necessary court bond in the event that the minister jumped bail and fled the court’s jurisdiction.

The only surety found to have demonstrated financial capacity on Wednesday was Mbale City North Division MP Seth Wambede.
The sureties who were rejected on Wednesday included the minister’s husband, Mr Simon Mulongo, a former MP and current diplomat with African Union, and Dr Joel Wadawa, a plastic surgeon working with Kiruddu Hospital.