DAVID MAFABI: Journey to exonerate iron sheets thieves begins with sacrificing Kitutu

To the best of my recollection, it was in 2014 when the now embattled Minister and Woman MP for Manafwa District Dr Kitutu rose to the lime light despite having a well defined academic backbone.

Her rise to prominence began when she penned a dossier about the cracks around the slops of Mt Elgon and how dangerous they were to the people living close to the hills. Her warning attracted the attention of the President in person.

For fear of allowing the Bududa landslide incident repeat itself, the president quickly organized a meeting with the political movers in Bugisu where Dr. Kitutu was invited as a guest, I was in attendance.

Her address was typical of a well informed lady who was well versed with what she was talking about-the environment. Throughout her address; she spoke without mincing her words and without making reference to any document or written notes, brilliant, I thought. I believe she is one of the few shining stars from the mountains of the sun.

By the end of her address that day, Kitutu had won the President’s heart and had written her name on the list of Museveni future cabinet appointments.

As usual, power brokers from within government started courting her, not for a relationship but to entice her into aspiring for Manafwa woman Member of Parliament.

The temptation seems to have come naturally and as luck would have it, she easily won the race only to be appointed State Minister for Environment during the 2016 cabinet reshuffle. She fell in things as the saying goes.

However, that is not the only advantage Kitutu had. Beyond her ability to speak convincingly is a pile of academic credentials which contributed in equal measure to propel her rise to the juicy Ministry of Energy as a full cabinet minister.

That rise could have been part of the problems she faces today. Am also told Kitutu is a well educated lady with a degree in Chemistry and Geology, a Postgraduate Diploma in Education, a master of science from the Netherlands and a doctorate of Philosophy from Makerere University. So we are talking about a person who could have done better as a consultant or in the academia instead of being a Minister where she has not been given a chance to apply her vast knowledge acquired over the years.

Before falling for the political temptation, Gorretti Kitutu was a Research Officer and Environmental Specialist at the National Environment Management Authority and had also worked as a Senior Technical Advisor and Environmental Monitor at Tetra Tech, a USAID sponsored project where she was earning big, far better than a Member of Parliament and Minister.

Whoever convinced her to join politics was the worst enemy of progress. Now see where Bugisu’s gallant daughter has found herself, betrayed by her accomplices, alone and frightened, deserted and sacrificed to take brother with her to luzira at the expense of her elderly ailing mother.

Just today, I was speaking to one of the elders in Bugisu to see if something could be done to save Dr. Kitutu like the Bafumbira did for Kale Kayihura when he was incarcerated. He simply asked me if he had shared in the loot, I was baffled with such a response.

It hurts to come from a community where your own people celebrate your fall and cannot cover your back when you fall short of what is expected of you. What would be the reaction of this elder if he had benefited from the iron sheets, would he go into hiding or come out to say lets forgive Kitutu? I cannot wait for the day the Bamasaba will unite to hold the head of state at ransom.

The gesture for unity among Bamasaba would have been seen when Kitutu was taken to arrested and arraigned in court. i personally expected some of our prominent people to come out in solidarity.

I only saw Simon Mulongo who is not even a member of Parliament. I know Kitutu may have made a mistake but she is not the first and not the last, besides, she is still innocent until she is found or until she pleads guilty. What is wrong with our Bugisu MPs burying their economic and political differences to join hands with L.C 5 Chairpersons from all the six districts of Bugisu together with the religious leaders across the religious divide coming together for this cause. For long Museveni has taken advantage of our divisions to leave us in the cold.

He fears numbers and a united front, am sure he would reconsider if the Bagisu stood as one to save Dr Kitutu.

I recall vividly when Local leaders from Kisoro petitioned Museveni to save Kale Kayihura the then Inspector General of Police from being prosecuted over alleged torture in relation to brutal beating of supporters of Opposition. Among these leaders was a Minister Philemon Mateke, Kisoro District chairman Bizimana Alex, Rose Kabagyenyi-Kisoro Woman MP and Nsaba Buturo among others. They confidently marched through the streets of Kisoro protesting the prosecution of their own without any interference from Police.

But was Kayihura innocent as they wanted us to believe. Let us not forget what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

Some of us have been left guessing and asking many questions without answers. Why was Agnes Nandutu in the worst case not indicted for the same offenses yet she was one of the beneficiaries of the Karamoja iron sheets?

Was she the roller coaster that was used to bring down Kitutu? I personally cannot blame the courts of law for Kitutu’s predicament; they are only on the receiving end. Even the sober headed Chief Magistrate is not to blame for delaying the release of Kitutu on bail, the circumstances warranted the reasons she gave.

My problem however remains with the virus called selective prosecution. Kitutu may have been the face of the Ministry of Karamoja but how about those who have been found in possession of stolen items. Why should the DPP wield so much power to determine the distribution of justice and in so doing end up orchestrating injustice? We seem to have forgotten that in jurisprudence, selective prosecution is a procedural defense in which accused persons can argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as the criminal justice system discriminated against them by choosing who to prosecute and who to leave out.

When you hear the state Attorney in personal conduct of this matter saying the sureties presented do not meet the requirements for the release on bail in a case of such scale because the nature of accusations, you may think the offences are capital in nature. The loss of public property has never been a serious offense in the Uganda that I know.

The fact that the offence attracts a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment once found guilty does not mean that it is mandatory for court to give a maximum punishment. That provisions In fact allows court to even give a punishment depending on the circumstances of the case.

According to the file, it has been alleged that Kitutu caused a loss of public property between June 2022 and January 2023 by diverting 14,500 pre-painted roofing iron sheets intended for Karamoja to her own benefit and that of third parties. I was personally interested in hearing that other suspects were still at large but that was not the case.

The only other person on the charge sheet was Joshua Abaho, a senior assistant secretary at the ministry of Karamoja Affairs. I am still asking why Kitutu was the only one thrown out of the sinking boat and charged with several offences including loss of public property, corruption, and conspiracy to defraud the government and not any other. Where are the others “thieves”, why were they left out?

Just recently, the office of the IGG released a list of 22 Ministers, 31 Members of Parliament and 13 Chief Administrative Officers who are being investigated for their role in the iron sheet scandal.

The truth is that we do not know who is fooling who but it is only Kitutu who has been singled out. Besides, there are parallel investigations being carried out by the Presidential Affairs committee of Parliament, the Uganda Police and the State House Anti Corruption Unit.

I do not know which investigation report would be adopted to prosecute the culprits. What happens if the different investigations contradict each other?

The list that we saw shows Iron sheets were taken to many other parts of Uganda but somebody seems to find a problem with a few that were taken to Manafwa.

At a later time during the hearing of Dr Kitutu’s case, we would want to know what made the DPP conclude that the iron sheets taken by Kitutu if at all were intended for Karamoja and not those that were taken to Kakumiro by Nabbanja, to Katakwi by Alupo, Bukedea by Anita Among or by Amos Lugolobi to fence off his goat farm.

So long as all the iron sheets were labeled “Office of the Prime Minister” and not Karamoja, the DPP and her partners in the selective prosecution have an uphill task to convince court and indeed Ugandans that those taken by Kitutu were for Karamoja.

 

Dr Kitutu has been betrayed by the Judases of our time, denied by the Peters of this generation, cleared of any wrong doing by the Pontius Pilate like me, while the Government through the office of the DPP have said, kill Kitutu, kill her and spare the other thieves and let her tears and pain be upon us and our descendants akin the scriptures in the book of Mathew 27:25. left with no choice, Dr Kitutu was taken to Golgotha and hang on a rugged cross intended for 21 other Ministers, 31 MPs, 13 CAOs and of course a selected number of religious leaders. Being found in possession of stolen items is enough for culpability.

At her age and a scandal of this nature hanging around her neck, her expertise, experience and hard earned academic qualifications are nothing but mere pieces of paper unless if she goes back into consultancies.

She has been thrown under the bus for some people to remain standing yet many have confessed to have received the iron sheets.. It does not matter whether she will eventually get exonerated; public trust which is built over time is gone.

She is no longer employable be it in Uganda or at the international level. I can only hope she gets on her feet again outside elective politics.

Now that the President has been fighting the right to bail for those implicated in corruption, we can only hope against hope that Kitutu will resurrect from the coolers of Luzira prison two days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

At the age of 61, a first time offender, a mother of many, a grand mother, a Minister and a Member of Parliament with a passport and properties to deposit in court as security, a number of respectable and reputable sureties, Kitutu should be allowed to defend herself from the comfort of her home. We hope she will not be re-arrested immediately as has been the norm in this country.