Tayari News
KAMPALA – Former state minister for Karamoja affairs Agnes Nandutu has been sentenced to four years for diverting 2000 iron sheets that were meant to benefit vulnerable communities in the Karamoja sub-region.
Sentenced by the Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala on Friday, Nandutu, a former journalist, was on Wednesday. The iron sheets were intended to benefit communities that had been engaging in nomadism and warrior activities.
The court in Kampala agreed with assessors who deemed her guilty as charged, and also with the prosecutors who argued that she had carefully planned the crime and had taken several months before returning the stolen iron sheets after pressure mounted, meaning that taking them and hiding them in a private home was not an impulsive act.
Moreover, prosecution argued that given her position then, she was best placed to know what and whom the iron sheets were meant for. The prosecutors demanded that she be banned from holding public office for ten years in addition to serving a custodial sentence of five years.
While appearing before the Anti-Corruption Court judge, Jane Kajuga, on Friday morning, Nandutu broke down and apologised to the government and the country, saying she had been misled into committing the crime. She added that her health was not in good condition.
The court, however, handed Nandutu a sentence. Kajuga ruled that, by virtue of her position, the former minister knew that the iron sheets were obtained falsely.