Karamoja minister Kitutu handed over to police

The Minister for Karamoja Affairs, Mary Goretti Kitutu, is in an enviable situation. She has been handed over to police at parliament to record a statement.

This was after she refused to take the oath while appearing before the committee probing the Karamoja iron sheets scandal, NBS Television reported.

Kitutu, in her capacity of Karamoja, is in the spotlight for the misappropriation of relief aid for Karamoja sub-region.

It is alleged that Kitutu and the Office of the Prime Minister mismanaged the relief items like iron sheets that were meant for poor people in Karamoja.

JUST IN: Minister for Karamoja Affairs, Mary Goretti Kitutu, has been handed over to police to make a statement. This was after she refused to take the oath while appearing before the committee probing the Karamoja iron sheets scandal.@simugabi#NBSUpdates pic.twitter.com/FE2s40J7St

— NBS Television (@nbstv) April 4, 2023

The iron sheets instead were given to prominent ministers and MPs. On learning this, the Karamoja Parliamentary Caucus raised an alarm prompting the State House Anti-corruption Unit to swing into action.

The Unit from State House hatched a plan and arrested Kitutu’s relatives who were in possession of and selling Karamoja iron sheets. The news of these arrests made headlines and caused a national public uproar.

Further investigations and interrogation revealed that ministers as powerful as Matia Kasaija and Amos Lugolobi in the finance ministry had received the said iron sheets.

The Speaker of Parliament Anita Annet Among had also received the iron sheets.

Many of the implicated ministers and MPs denied saying they never requested the iron sheets and indeed don’t know how iron sheets got into their homes.

Kitutu as the line minister for Karamoja had eluded the parliamentary committee investigating the matter. She had on several occasions refused to respond to the invites by the committee until today.