Kitutu’s iron sheets trial set for November 4

What the report says

Former Karamoja Affairs minister Mary Goretti Kitutu is due back in Uganda’s Anti-Corruption Division after the court set November 4, 2026, for the pre-trial hearing in her case over the alleged diversion of 14,500 iron sheets meant for vulnerable communities in Karamoja. Judge David Makumbi fixed the date after prosecutors said they were ready to proceed, following an appeal that had delayed the matter for nearly two years.

The Observer reported that Kitutu faces two counts of causing loss of public property and one count of conspiracy to defraud. She is charged alongside former senior assistant secretary Joshua Abaho, while Kitutu’s brother, Michael Naboya, faces a separate count linked to receiving 100 iron sheets. The alleged conduct is said to have taken place between June 2022 and January 2023 under the Karamoja Community Empowerment Programme. The accused have denied the charges and were granted bail.

The case resumed after the Court of Appeal dismissed Kitutu’s challenge to being tried in separate proceedings. The court allowed the Anti-Corruption Division to continue with the iron sheets case, while another case involving alleged irregularities in supplementary funds for Karamoja remains separate. In the broader scandal, former state minister Agnes Nandutu was convicted in a related matter, and the DPP withdrew charges against Amos Lugoloobi, leaving Kitutu among the remaining prominent figures facing prosecution.