A Ugandan government minister has been remanded in prison in a rare case of high-profile corruption involving alleged diversion of metal roofing sheets meant to help people living in the restive northern Karamoja region.
Mary Goretti Kitutu, the minister in charge of Karamoja affairs and her brother Micheal Naboya Kitutu were charged with defrauding the state.
Uganda's anti-corruption unit says the charges against the siblings include ''conspiracy to defraud & Loss of Public Property after she allegedly diverted iron sheets meant for vulnerable communities in the Karamoja sub-region.''
A statement from the anti-corruption body added that they have been remanded till April 12, 2023.
The minister, Mary Goretti Kitutu and her brother appeared before the Anti-Corruption Court on Thursday. They have not yet entred a plea.
The corrugated iron roofing sheets were earmarked for low-cost housing in Karamoja, an underdeveloped and lawless region in northwest Uganda bordering Kenya and South Sudan. Kitutu is the minister responsible for Karamoja development.
The scandal caused significant public outcry even in a country where government corruption is endemic.
It is rare for such a senior official to face prosecution for graft and Kitutu is the highest-profile government figure hauled before the corruption court in years .
The last instance was in 2007 when two government ministers, Jim Muhwezi and Mike Mukula, were charged with embezzling millions of dollars of aid money.
Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine said the charges against Kitutu were "a smokescreen" and accused the government of long-ruling President Yoweri Museveni of far worse.
"The whole of Museveni's cabinet, including himself, are supposed to be in prison over corruption," said Wine, a musician turned presidential contender whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi.
"We can't celebrate a charge on iron sheets when billions of dollars are embezzled by government officials."
