More government officials and ministers in Uganda are expected to be charged in court over the disappearance of iron sheets meant for the impoverished Karamoja region, according to local media.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga told Daily Monitor that investigations have identified a bigger network and more suspects are expected to appear in court.
“We interviewed several people and we expect all files to be submitted to the DPP by next week. Hon. Mary [Goretti] Kitutu’s file was almost ready when she was arrested from Parliament,” Enanga said according to Daily Monitor.
He was talking about the Karamoja Affairs minister, who was remanded to Luzira Prison on Thursday.
“The scandal is being handled in piecemeal, and so there are several files for several suspects … the file of Hon Kitutu was the first to be submitted,” said Jacquelyn Okui, spokesperson in the office of the country’s Director of Public Prosecution.
“We are expecting more files of other suspects to be submitted by police and they will be considered by the DPP as and when they are submitted.”
Minister Kitutu was jailed after being charged with two counts of causing loss of public property and conspiracy to defraud at the Anti-Corruption Court, Daily Monitor reports.
She was charged alongside her brother, Mr Micheal Naboya Kitutu, who is accused of receiving stolen property between June 2022 and January 2023 at Situmi Village Bukhawekha Sub-county, Namisindwa District.
While anti-corruption agencies and a section of Ugandans saw the minister’s arrest as a positive step in the fight against corruption, alternative sentiments suggested she is only a sacrificial lamb.
According to Daily Monitor, top government officials, including Vice President Jessica Alupo, Parliament Speaker Anita Among and Prime Minister Robinah Nabanja, have been named and admitted to receiving the relief iron sheets that were meant for the vulnerable in the Karamoja Sub-region.
