Minister Mary Goretti Kitutu, the Karamoja Affairs Minister has confessed to diverting 3000 iron sheets that were meant for the unprivileged people in Karamoja.
while appearing before the Presidential Affairs Committee of Parliament, Kitutu accepted responsibility for the mismanagement of the process to distribute the iron sheets procured for the vulnerable in the sub-region.
“Some of the iron sheets were used to roof a boys’ dormitory in Situmi Primary School, Namisindwa district. The school lacked a store, hence storing them at a relative’s house,” she said.
She apologized to the committee and parliament, noting that she was never guided about the project.
Kitutu requested for 12,200 iron sheets to aid community mobilization and peace-building missions in Karamoja that has been plagued by cattle rusttling and hunger.
Her January 12, 2023, internal memo to the stores’ department at the Office of Prime Minister, 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.”
Last month, security operatives nabbed Cotilda Kitutu, Michael Nabwaya, and Julius Wabule. The accused are the mother, brother, and nephew of Minister Kitutu. The three were allegedly selling OPM-branded iron sheets to residents of Namisindwa district, in eastern Uganda.
The ministers involved in the scandal include; Rebecca Kadaga, Jacob Oboth Oboth, Hamson Obua, Amos Lugolobi, Matia Kasaija and others.
