According to reports, in the wake of inquiries into and arrests related to the alleged theft of iron sheets, Ministers are increasingly skipping the Parliamentary sessions, and the sirens on their lead cars have stopped beeping.
In February, State House detectives allegedly discovered a system in which ministers and other notables shared metal sheets obtained for the destitute and young rehabilitated warriors in Karamoja unlawfully.
Three of the 22 ministers involved in the trouble, Goretti Kitutu, Agness Nandutu, her understudy, and Amos Lugoloobi, have been accused in court of a variety of offenses.
The charges against the defendants range from dealing with questionable property to conspiring to commit felonies that resulted in the loss of government property.
At Luzira Prisons, where Ms. Nodutu continues to be detained until at least May 3, when a hearing on her bail application is scheduled, each of the accused has separately spent nights in detention.
According to investigators and sources in the Cabinet, the arrests resemble a similar crackdown on procurement-related wrongdoing during Uganda’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in 2007 have caused fear and panic among ministers.
One of the ministers allegedly ran away to a senior colleague’s home before surrendering to authorities for questioning, which led to their incarceration.
In response to the rising pressure, receivers rushed to return the iron sheets to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), which houses the Ministry of Karamoja Affairs in the center of the storm.
Last Thursday, a junior minister showed up at the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) headquarters of the Police in Kibuli, a suburb of Kampala, to inform investigators that they were willing to cooperate and should avoid being humiliated by an arrest.
According to sources familiar with the investigations who declined to provide their names because they lacked the authority to discuss the subject, the arrests are intended to curb impunity, serve as a deterrent, and establish political discipline.
According to one source, indicting ministers is likely to make them more cautious when making judgments, managing government resources, and refining their behavior in public affairs.
Many people are already absent than present in public, which highlights the challenges officials implicated negatively in the iron sheet affair must overcome.
On April 5, the only ministers present for the day’s plenary were the Government Chief Whip Hamson Obua, the whole portfolio at the Cabinet level, and the junior Health minister Margaret Muhanga.
Thomas Tayebwa, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, blew hot and threatened to refer evading executives to the House Committee on Rules.
The pace of budget discussion has been slowed down by the legislators’ unanswered queries on issues of national importance and the delay in the introduction of ministerial policy statements. Godfrey Kabbyanga, state minister for national guidance, asked What about the ministers, though? Particularly those under police investigation, they are present and not hiding.
He claimed that they have sent journalists to Nkumba traffic light junction on April 17 to count the number of official ministerial cars traveling to Entebbe in response to information that many people were skipping Cabinet meetings at State House Entebbe. Nkumba is close to the intersection of the old Entebbe airport and the expressway.
The CM or MS signs, which stand for Cabinet Minister or Minister of State are attached to the vehicles assigned to ministers, making them immediately recognizable on the road.
Mondays are reserved for cabinet meetings, which are typically presided over by President Museveni or, in his absence, the vice president. The morning of April 17 was wet and gloomy. By 10.30 am, our reporters had tallied 40 vehicles transporting ministers in the direction of Entebbe town, which is home to the State House and the international airport.
50 state ministers and 32 cabinet members make up Uganda’s 82 ministers, which suggests that half of them left for Entebbe that morning.
These included the vice president, the prime minister, the first and second deputy prime ministers, the minister of works, his counterparts in the departments of justice and constitutional affairs, Norbert Mao and Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, and the minister of works.
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Several sources claim that a number of ministers who are sought by the police on suspicion of diverting iron sheets for personal use or donations to constituents did not attend cabinet meetings, despite the fact that the issue was never brought up.
A source with knowledge of the meeting claimed that President Museveni has only mentioned the matter in Cabinet once, or around a month ago, and has made no comments regarding the ongoing detentions and court appearances of involved ministers
The public prosecutor is currently deciding whether to order the arrest of ministers and other prominent politicians connected to the iron sheets scandal, which is why there have been reports of reduced siren sounds and improved ministerial road behavior.
