Iron sheets: Museveni to decide ministers’ fate

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms Jane Frances Abodo, has closed files of cases against 17 officials implicated in the iron sheet saga, leaving their fate for President Museveni to decide.

In a March 13 letter, President Museveni, who ordered criminal investigations into the scandal, noted that he was on standby to take “political action” once police concluded inquiries.

There are currently three ministers - Ms Goretti Kitutu of Karamoja Affairs, her junior Agnes Nandutu, and her Planning counterpart Amos Lugoolobi - being prosecuted at the Anti-Corruption Court in relation to the iron sheets saga.

The government last year bought 100,000 piece of iron sheets with emergency funding for distribution to vulnerable Karimojong and reformed warriors, but investigators later found that ministers and other officials had shared 14,200 of the iron sheets among themselves.

In ordering the inquiries, President Museveni called ministers who received and applied the iron sheets for personal use “thieves”, saying they should be prosecuted.

Those who donated iron sheets they received to constituents, he noted, had involved in political corruption and should return them or pay cash equivalent to the value of the roofing materials.

“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.

“If somebody took mabaati (iron sheets) meant for the Karachuna (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 Karachuna, but also at the expense of the security of the country”.

Speaking at a press briefing at the weekend, Ms Abodo, said there are three files that they are still investigating, adding that if the evidence is sufficient, the suspects majorly government technocrats, will be arraigned before court within the next two weeks.

“In considering the culpability of the suspects, a number of factors were taken into account including the circumstances under which the iron sheets were received, the manner of use of iron sheets upon receipt and refunds made in kind and cash,” Ms Abodo said.

She added: “…One thing you will realise is that when we are handling these cases, for you (journalists), you are picking out the Speaker of Parliament; for us, we just looked at the evidence generally, and if there was no evidence, we cannot just charge them because the public wants to see the Speaker of Parliament or the Prime Minister take plea.”

Ms Abodo, however, declined to reveal the names of the 17 people.

According to the DPP, her office alongside the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit opened 40 case files into the Karamoja iron sheets saga in March.

She said 17 case files were closed after it was discovered that they were not related to the Karamoja iron sheets saga, and another 17 were closed for lack of incriminating evidence. Three are pending completion of investigations.

The DPP said their investigations were prosecution-guided and that the investigations covered the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Karamoja and several parts of the country.

When asked whether there was political interference during the handling of the case, the DPP said: “Let me make this very clear, when I was appointed DPP, one of the things I feared most was political interference. I’m starting my fourth year as DPP and not even once, and I say all this with all sincerity, has the President called me and told me to handle any case in a certain way.”

She added: “…That has made my work easy. There are several people who come here every day saying that they are from State House; I just look at them and tell them that I handle cases for everyone because I know the President doesn’t interfere in my work at all.

“For this particular case (iron sheets), he (President) has not called me even once, and no one can even quote and say there was a meeting or I was summoned to State House. Actually, I have not been to State House for the last three months.”

Summary

• 40 case files opened

• 3 case files sanctioned before court

• 17 case files closed because they were not related to Karamoja iron sheets investigations

• 17 case files cleared for lack of sufficient evidence

• 3 case files are pending completion of investigations

• 6,100 iron sheets so far returned in kind

• 1,000 iron sheets paid in cash

• 2,295 iron sheets recovered from suspects’ homes

• 5,105 iron sheets yet to be recovered.

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