The Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development Matia Kasaija has revealed that he never applied for the iron sheets from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
Appearing before the Presidential Affairs Committee of Parliament, Kasaija said he received 300 pieces of iron sheets but he didn’t know that they were meant for the impoverished people in Karamoja.
“I have never applied for iron sheets. I got them. Some called me and said that the office of the prime minister is donating iron sheets and we have some which I will bring you to sign and the next thing is iron sheets were delivered,” he said.
“Even now, I have a bundle of 300 iron sheets and I don’t know why they were delivered to my home in Kampala? They are in my compound. The other ones I took, I was told that were meant to support my constituency and I gave 450 iron sheets to a school and the balance is still in my store in Kibaale and I am looking for who else to give,” he said.
He said please crucify me knowing that I am innocent. The iron sheets found themselves in my compound. I follow the Constitution. These questions should be focused on the Office of the Prime Minister. We are victims. I never asked for these iron sheets.
Kasaija is among the top ministers who benefited from the iron sheets which were allegedly meant for people in Karamoja. The ministers involved in the scandal include; Rebecca Kadaga, Jacob Oboth Oboth, Hamson Obua, Amos Lugolobi and sundry.
In a February 22, 2023, tweet, Rebecca Kadaga, the first deputy prime minister of Uganda, confirmed she requested and received 250 iron sheets from the OPM.
Last month, security operatives nabbed Cotilda Kitutu, Michael Nabwaya, and Julius Wabule. The accused are the mother, brother, and nephew of Minister Kitutu, the Karamoja Affairs Minister.
The three were allegedly selling OPM-branded iron sheets to residents of Namisindwa district, in eastern Uganda.
According to the Observer, Kitutu had requested 12,200 iron sheets to aid her in community mobilization and peace-building missions in Karamoja. Her January 12, 2023, internal memo to the stores’ department at the OPM read in part, “During community mobilization and peace-building missions, I usually meet vulnerable groups and karuchunas (reformed warriors) who are willing to dissociate themselves from rustling. As part of my intervention, I will be distributing iron sheets to such special vulnerable groups.”
