Ex-Minister Nandutu jailed 4 years

By Patrick Okino

Former Karamoja Affairs Minister Agnes Nandutu has been sentenced to four years in prison by the Anti-Corruption Court.

Nandutu was jailed for her role in the Karamoja iron sheets scandal, where she was found to have illegally acquired and possessed 2,000 iron sheets meant for vulnerable communities in the sub-region.

In addition to the prison sentence, the court barred her from holding public office for 10 years.

Jane Okuo Kajuga, the Anti-Corruption judge on 10 April, also ordered the iron sheets which she was implicated in stealing to be returned to the Office of the Prime Minister.

She also ordered that time Nandutu already spent on remand be deducted from her sentence.

The Bududa woman Member of Parliament had earlier apologised and asked for a lighter (non-custodial) sentence, citing health issues and family responsibilities, but the court still imposed a prison term.

The case stems from findings that she received and kept about 2,000 iron sheets that were part of a government programme intended to support vulnerable people in the Karamoja sub-region.

Who is Nandutu?

In 2020, she joined politics and participated in the National Resistance Movement party primaries which she lost to incumbent Woman MP Justin Khainza,and in the 2021 election she contested as an independent, then was elected Woman member of parliament for Bududa district.

Before she joined parliament, she worked at Daily Monitor as a freelance reporter.

Between 2002 and 2008, Nandutu worked at Impact FM as a staff reporter before she joined NTV Uganda. She was a senior political reporter at NTV Uganda. Nandutu was also a moderator and a speaker for NTV citizen debate show called “The People’s Parliament.”