Emerging information in the ongoing iron sheets scandal has revealed a brewing rift between the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) over the continued delay to forward files of key individuals.
Sources at the ODPP say Jane Frances Abodo, the director of public prosecution, is yet to receive files of the vice president Jessica Alupo, speaker Anita Among, prime minister Robinah Nabbanja and former speaker Rebecca Kadaga, among others.
According to sources, CID investigators informed the ODPP that they are still yet to interrogate the said officials due to their busy schedules. However, sources at ODPP said the high- ranking government officials are being protected by the CID from possible prosecution.
“Whereas we have received a number of files implicating several ministers, we need all the files for purposes of corroboration of information. But at the moment, we cannot fully decide whether to proceed with sanctioning of the files when some files are missing,” said the source.
“We may be forced to hold onto the files we have until all of them have reached the DPP’s office.”
Efforts to reach out to Tom Magambo, the CID boss, were futile as he didn’t pick our calls but an official at CID who preferred anonymity said they work at their pace.
“These investigations are wide and you cannot just wake up and forward a file until you are sure with the evidence gathered,” said the source.
Interviewed for this story, police spokesperson Fred Enanga was cagey about the matter but said the police concluded its investigations and it is waiting for the ODPP to peruse through the files which were earlier submitted to see if the witnesses have cases to answer or not.
“However, I cannot confirm to you that all the files were submitted to the ODPP,” he said.
According to sources, the standoff has split cabinet, with some ministers questioning the rationale of prosecuting some ministers and letting others off the hook.
“If Lugoloobi [state minister of Finance and Planning] was prosecuted, why not others? It will be a travesty if they don’t end up in the dock,” said a cabinet source.
OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE
Meanwhile, more revelations have emerged to show how the iron sheets saga was a well- orchestrated scheme. According to available documents, evidence pins several implicated ministers right from the moment of acquiring the iron sheets at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) warehouse in Namanve, to their final destinations and how they were used.
One of the ministers who preferred anonymity because he is still being investigated, told The Observer that he was shocked to discover that investigators knew every detail of the iron sheets she received and each of the people and groups she donated the iron sheets to.
“These people may have set us up because we regularly receive relief items like bore holes but I had never been put under this scrutiny,” she said.
According to records at the OPM warehouse, every minister’s personal assistant who picked the iron sheets had their identity cards photocopied on top of ensuring that the iron sheets were driven by OPM vehicles.
“OPM also provided its own drivers to ensure they followed up the iron sheets up to the final destinations. That’s how it was easy for security agencies to trace the iron sheets to Lugoloobi’s goat shed and also identify that the speaker gave some of the iron sheets to her school in Bukedea,” said a source.
“Those OPM drivers also need to be investigated because they were used as decoys to follow up on how the iron sheets were put to use.”
WAS THERE AN ATTEMPT TO COVER-UP?
OPM sources told this newspaper that it is common for ministers to lobby the OPM for relief items to help their people but when it came to the iron sheets, none of the ministers or MPs made an application to Dr Mary Kitutu, the minister for Karamoja.
Documents available show that in the last financial year, the Finance ministry appropriated Shs 7bn to procure iron sheets for the affirmative action ministries under OPM. These include Bunyoro Affairs, Luweero triangle, Northern Uganda and Karamoja.
Others are Refugees as well as Disaster Preparedness. It happened that the first batch of 12,000 iron sheets were procured for Karamoja but as early as June, 2022, CID operatives had started investigating Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu, the state minister for Karamoja, over mismanagement of the region’s relief items.
Sources say the Finance minister Matia Kasaija and his junior Lugoloobi were among the first to get the iron sheets as a ‘token of thanks’ for passing the budget allocation.
“By receiving the iron sheets, they also had an obligation to defend the iron sheets giveaway in cabinet when the matter arises,” said the source.
It is also curious that among the first to get the iron sheets in parliament was the speaker, Among.
“This also ensured that she would pour cold water on the investigation into the saga,” said the source.
However, when news broke of the arrest of Kitutu’s mother and brother for selling the Karamoja iron sheets, Kitutu was advised to become the sacrificial lamb and cover up the rest.
“She declined to go down alone but promised not to include the speaker and other high-ranking government officials. That is why when the matter first came to parliament, Among advised all those pinned to ‘carry their own cross.’”
However, when President Museveni ordered a thorough interrogation by CID and officials from the State House Anti- Corruption Unit (SHACU), Kitutu is said to have broken down and implicated all officials who picked iron sheets, including Among and Nabbanja.
MINISTERS GET OFF LIGHTLY
Meanwhile, legal experts have intimated to The Observer that following Kitutu’s arrest, several ministers implicated pleaded with the ODPP to have her charged with a lesser offence of diversion of government property instead of the more serious charges of causing financial loss as well as fraudulent disposal of trust property under sections 20 and 21 of the Anti-Corruption Act.
On the other hand, Lugoloobi and Nandutu were charged with two counts of dealing with suspect property.
“All the charges are weak and carry a small penalty of 24 currency points, which is literally Shs 4.8m when found guilty; so, in the court of public opinion, the goal has been achieved to humiliate them but that’s where it all ends,” said a source.
PROCUREMENT FLAWS?
One of the most curious aspects of the saga is that whereas each iron sheet was procured for Shs 71,000, ministers were allowed to pay Shs 68,000 as replacement for the iron sheets they took.
“This shows there were serious procurement flaws in the first place,” said the source.
It is also quite telling that virtually all OPM staff involved have been let off the hook. For instance, Geoffrey Seremba, the OPM undersecretary in charge of Finance and Administration, was at the centre of authorizing the giveaway of the iron sheets but whereas he recorded a statement with police, he has since been elevated to be the acting permanent secretary following the death of Keith Muhakanizi.
“The public is being made to look at the diversion of the iron sheets and not how they were procured in the first place. It is also clear Nabbanja is protecting OPM staff because if CID was to investigate how they reached the price of Shs 71,000, you may find there is more rot into OPM dealings than what we already know. Arresting Seremba would escalate the iron sheets saga to include the procurement process,” said the source.
“The reason OPM accepted ministers to pay back in cash is to ensure there are no exhibits should police launch a forensic investigation into the procurement process. It is hard to show a financial loss during procurement when the would-be exhibits have already been put to use in the field,” said the source.
The Observer
