Kerry Howard Mwesigwa.
KAMPALA, November 11, 2023 | The Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala resumed the hearing of a case in which Finance State Minister Amos Lugoloobi is accused of diverting 400 iron sheets meant for the Karamoja sub-region, where thousands of people are facing severe drought and food insecurity. The iron sheets were part of the 100,000 pre-painted iron sheets donated by the Chinese government to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) as relief items for the Karacunas, the pastoral communities in Karamoja.
Lugoloobi, who is also the Ntenjeru North MP, is facing two counts of dealing with suspect property, contrary to Section 21A of the Anti-Corruption Act. The offence carries a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment on conviction. He denies any wrongdoing and claims that he returned the iron sheets to the OPM stores in Namanve, Mukono district.
However, the prosecution presented a witness, Fredrick Kalema, who is the senior inventory management officer in the OPM, to testify against Lugoloobi. Kalema told Justice Margaret Tibulya that Lugoloobi received 600 iron sheets from the OPM stores in July 2022 and February 2023, without making any formal request or approval. He said that Lugoloobi sent his political assistant, who signed and picked the iron sheets on his behalf.
Kalema also said that Lugoloobi only returned 600 iron sheets in March 2023, after the OPM launched an investigation into the diversion of the relief items. He said that he received a phone call from Lugoloobi, who asked him to come and collect the iron sheets from his home in Matugga, Wakiso district. Kalema said that he went with a team of OPM officials and police officers to Lugoloobi’s home, where they found the iron sheets stacked in a garage. He said that they loaded the iron sheets on a truck and took them back to the OPM stores in Namanve.
The prosecution alleges that Lugoloobi dealt with government property, to wit; 400 pre-painted iron sheets marked “Office of the Prime Minister” having reason to believe that the said iron sheets were acquired as a result of loss of public property, an offence under section 10 (1) of the Anti-Corruption Act. The prosecution also alleges that Lugoloobi used the iron sheets for his personal benefit, such as constructing his house and distributing them to his constituents.
Lugoloobi, who denies any wrongdoing, is among the three ministers who are accused of being found in possession of iron sheets meant for the Karacunas, the indigenous people of Karamoja. The others are Karamoja affairs minister Mary Goretti Kitutu and her junior Agnes Nandutu. Justice Margaret Tibulya duly adjourned the hearing to November 16, 2023.
