By Admin
The former State Minister for Karamoja Affairs Agnes Nandutu and Bududa Woman Member of Parliament has been convicted and remanded to Luzira Prison by the Anti-Corruption Court over the Karamoja Iron sheets scandal.
Nandutu, a journalist turned politician was on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, w found guilty for dealing with suspect property after she diverted thousands of metal roofing sheets meant for the rural poor households in the Karamoja Sub-region.
Court found that Nandutu knowingly received and retained government property that was not lawfully allocated to her and which she had reason to believe had been irregularly diverted from a public program intended for vulnerable beneficiaries.
Justice Jane Akuo Kajuga canceled her bail application and remanded her to Luzira until Friday this week where she will return to court for sentencing.
Evidence showed the iron sheets were earmarked for vulnerable persons under a government program, and no formal request or allocation supported their diversion. The judge also rejected claims of political miscommunication and marginalization within the ministry.
The prosecution successfully argued that the 2,000 iron sheets, part of a specialized consignment intended for the Karamoja Community Empowerment Program, were diverted for personal use.
Part of the evidence showed Nandutu received the sheets in June 2022 but kept them with a political assistant for a month before moving them to her private farm.
Prosecution witness from the ledger extract also showed the iron sheets were marked for “vulnerable persons,” yet Nandutu claimed they were intended for landslide victims in her constituency, Bududa.
The judge also noted that there was no documentary evidence, no formal request to the Permanent Secretary, and no departmental allocation justifying the release of the specific sheets to the Bududa region.
Although Nandutu, in her defence team, argued that the prosecution relied on assumptions rather than concrete evidence of “knowledge,” their arguments focused on the alleged political misdirection, professional marginalisation, and hostile environment, which the judge quashed.
Nandutu testified that she was informed by her senior minister, Mary Goretti Kitutu, that iron sheets had been allocated for the Bugisu/Bududa region.
She also claimed she was “sidelined” in the ministry, with her duties restricted strictly to the education sector, meaning she was unaware of the broader Karamoja budget and work plans.
The defense pointed to “bad blood” between Nandutu and Kitutu as a reason for poor communication.
Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga dismantled the defense’s claims, saying that the court found that the iron sheets were never intended for Bududa.
The court noted that while the Bududa District Disaster Management Committee had verified victims, they testified that they only learned Nandutu possessed iron sheets when the scandal broke.
“It is shocking how casually the 2,000 iron sheets were allocated with no requisition… no documentary evidence indicating the purpose,” Justice Okuo noted.
Justice Okuo ruled that as a Minister of State, Nandutu was privy to the ministry’s supplementary budget and the launch of the Karamoja program.
The claim that she was relegated to “education only” was debunked by Joshua, a technical officer who testified he was assigned to guide her through the entire ministry’s operations.
The court found the delay in distributing the iron sheets from June until their recovery by the police to be “unjustifiable.” If they were truly meant for disaster victims, the Justice Okuo reasoned, they would not have been stored on a private farm for months.
The court also highlighted a logical inconsistency in the defence’s “bad blood” narrative.
The court assessors pointed out that if there was truly animosity between Nandutu and Minister Kitutu, it was highly improbable that Kitutu would “casually” gift her 2,000 iron sheets without formal paperwork.
“I find that the accused had more than sufficient reason to believe that the iron sheets were a result of diversion, which is a corrupt act… I accordingly convict the accused of the offense of dealing with suspect property, contrary to Section 21A (1) of the Anti-Corruption Act.”
This puts an end to her prosecution three years after she first appeared in court on April 19, 2023, following what has popularly become Karamoja iron sheets scandal.
When the case started in 2023, several government officials and to NRM party members were implicated for illegal possession and diversion of government iron sheets meant for vulnerable people in the restive mineral rich Karamoja Sub-region.
