The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has secured a conviction against Hon. Nandutu Agness, Woman Member of Parliament for Bududa District and former Minister of State for Karamoja Affairs, for the offence of dealing with suspect property.
The Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court of Uganda, presided over by Hon. Lady Justice Jane Okuo, convicted Hon. Nandutu Agness.
The prosecution had alleged, and the court found, that between June and July 2022, the Hon. Nandutu Agness dealt with government property consisting of 2,000 pre-painted iron sheets of gauge 28 marked “Office of the Prime Minister”.
She received and retained the said iron sheets at the Office of the Prime Minister stores in Namanve and later at her residence in Mukono District, in circumstances where she had reason to believe that the property had been irregularly obtained as a result of loss of public property.
At the material time, Hon. Nandutu Agnes served as the Woman Member of Parliament for Bududa District and as Minister of State for Karamoja Affairs under the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
The Ministry for Karamoja Affairs was implementing a government programme funded under a supplementary budget of approximately 39.94 billion shillings for the 2021/2022 financial year.
The programme was intended to support disarmament and community empowerment in the Karamoja Sub-region by distributing relief items, including iron sheets, to vulnerable groups.
In execution of this programme, the OPM procured a total of 95,044 pre-painted iron sheets. These iron sheets were delivered to and stored at the OPM stores in Namanve for official distribution.
In June 2022, a requisition for 10,000 iron sheets was made to facilitate the presidential launch of the distribution exercise in Moroto District.
Although the requisition was approved, only 1,000 iron sheets were issued, leaving a balance of 9,000 iron sheets in the stores. The launch event took place on 13 June 2022 and was attended by Hon. Nandutu.
The evidence at trial showed that shortly thereafter, the Minister for Karamoja Affairs informed Hon. Nandutu that 2,000 iron sheets had been allocated to her from the remaining stock, purportedly for landslide victims.
Hon. Nandutu accepted this allocation and facilitated the collection of the iron sheets. On 23 June 2022, she provided funds for transportation and instructed her political assistant to collect the iron sheets from the OPM stores. The assistant collected the 2,000 iron sheets.
The iron sheets were first transported to a private residence in Wakiso District, where Hon. Nandutu personally verified their quantity. They were subsequently transferred, on her instructions, to her residence in Seeta, Mukono District, where they were received and stored under her authority.
During investigations in March 2023, Hon. Nandutu recorded a statement with the police confirming these events and led investigators to her farm. A search conducted by the Evidence Response Team recovered 1,617 iron sheets from the premises. The accused failed to account for the remaining 383 iron sheets.
