Karamoja saga: Nabbanja to appear before parliamentary committee this afternoon

The matter is listed among today’s House business in a plenary session that starts at 2:00 PM.

This is after preliminary findings by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit revealed that consignments of substantial relief food, roofing materials, and animals were either diverted to political supervisors, including ministers, or under-supplied.

Parliament Presidential and Foreign Affairs Committee, which began separate inquiries into the matter, were told by Karamoja leaders that only 1,000 of an expected consignment of 100,000 iron sheets had been supplied to the region.

This is despite of Parliament’s approval of billions of shillings for the intervention.

While appearing on a current affairs talk show on one of the local television channels, the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, defended the ministers who appeared on a list of those who received iron sheets allegedly 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.

Meanwhile the Inspectorate of Government this week appointed a six- member committee chaired by Justus Kaleebi, the manager for Ombudsman affairs, to start investigations into the same allegations.

The latest scandal in the OPM which ensnared the Speaker of Parliament Anitah Among, Karamoja Affairs minister Gorretti Kitutu became public after the latter's’ detectives arrested members of the latter’s family on allegations of selling the labelled iron sheets.