Iron sheets saga: Police summons 12 ministers, 13 MPs

Detectives say the summon follows discovery of new clues that they hope to use to unearth exactly what happened.

“The CID director has sanctioned the summons right now. 12 ministers and 13 members of parliament have been summoned for investigation,” a source who preferred anonymity said.

While appearing on a current affairs talk show on one of the local television channels, the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, who was also named in the scandal, defended the ministers who appeared on a list of those who allegedly received iron sheets meant for Karamoja relief, saying those are were not the same iron sheets that were meant for Karamoja.

“It is true the Vice President took iron sheets, aren’t there vulnerable people in Katakwi? I took iron sheets to Kakumiro, are there no vulnerable people in Kakumiro? People are receiving these iron sheets, so let us investigate those that have not reached the people,” she said.

Nabbanja refuted claims that she used iron sheets to roof her hotel in Kakumiro.

“Saying I used government iron sheets on my hotels isn’t right. I built my first hotel in 2003 and another in 2009,” she said.

According to Nabbanja, the iron sheets have been coming from different donors and funders, and different officials have been asking for them so as to support their vulnerable communities.

“People have been taking iron sheets for a long time, in a transparent process through proper assessment, it is not a new thing. We have been distributing iron sheets for quite long. We should not bundle these to the Karamoja issue,” she said.

However, the Karamoja Affairs Minister, Mary Gorrieti Kitutu, publicly apologised for the diversion of iron sheets meant for the region.