The state minister for Economic Planning, Amos Lugoloobi has a case to answer in the Karamoja iron sheets scandal, the Anti-Corruption court in Kampala has ruled.
Lady Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga on Wednesday said that there is sufficient evidence from over 11 prosecution witnesses, including a Church reverend, to establish a prima facia case against Lugoloobi.
"The evidence is sufficient to call for explanation from the accused person and for that reason, I find that the accused has a case to answer he is accordingly put on his defense," said Kajuga.
She ordered the minister to start defending himself over the accusations starting January 15, 2025, adding that it's on this day that the court will explain to him personally his rights. The prosecution alleges that Lugoloobi while at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) stores in Namanve, Mukono district and at different places in Matuga, Wakiso district and Ntejeru North Constituency in Kayunga district, dealt with government property, that is - 700 prepainted iron sheets marked 'Office of the Prime Minister.'
According to the prosecution, the iron sheets which were reportedly acquired as a result of loss of property, an offence under section 10 (1) of the Anti-Corruption court were obtained in two phases with one involving 400 iron sheets between July 14, 2022 and February 2023, and another batch of 300 iron sheets obtained between February 1, 2023 and March 16, 2023.
However, Lugoloobi's lawyers led by John Isabirye last month asked the court to set their client free after the prosecution had closed its case with 11 witnesses. His lawyers told the court that the prosecution had not provided substantial evidence to warrant a defence. They argued the prosecution failed to address fundamental issues, particularly regarding whether the iron sheets in issue were meant for the Office of the Prime Minister or the vulnerable people of Karamoja.
The court heard that the majority of the witnesses indicated that in the OPM stores at Namanve, there were other iron sheets designated for other pacify and relief-bound areas. This, the lawyers said, is further collaborated by the prosecutors who say there was a supplementary budget for the Karacuna (reformed Karimojong warriors).
They further indicated that none of the prosecution witnesses placed Lugoloobi at the scene of crime and that the prosecutors miserably failed to make a case that was worthy of putting their client Lugoloobi to his defence. Lugoloobi 's lawyers further stated that when probed on the guidelines followed to acquire iron sheets, the prosecution indicated that there were guidelines. However, it was also Lugoloobi's lawyers' contention that the first prosecution witness who was accounting officer, Geoffrey Sseremba said he didn't have guidelines with him because they were not gazetted.
According to the defence lawyers, the accounting officer who was a key witness, said one wouldn't know about the guidelines if one was not working at the Office of the Prime Minister since they are not gazetted. As such, they said that the prosecutors are accusing Lugoloobi of accessing the store casually.
They noted that they do not bring out with specificity who committed the offence and whether they have been charged or not yet, for their client to qualify to be accused of receiving stolen property. In their view, one must be convicted to have stolen something and that something to be later found with another person, which they say is not the case with their client Lugoloobi.
As such, they said that the prosecutors need to prove that the received property was stolen and must show that the accused had reason to believe that it was illegally received. Lugoloobi's lawyers argued that the witnesses didn't clarify these contradictions and therefore, their testimonies should be treated as evidence from the bar and the court should go ahead to acquit the minister.
In response, the prosecution, led by assistant director of public prosecutions (DPP) Josephine Namatovu, alleges the minister received stolen iron sheets intended for vulnerable residents of Karamoja. According to the prosecution, the iron sheets were recovered from Lugoloobi's farm in Bale, where his workers were found de-roofing the structure and replacing the stolen sheets with unmarked ones. Namatovu said further investigations revealed 316 iron sheets were used to roof a goathouse, while 84 were donated to New Hope Primary School in Kayunga.
Namatovu said when the police visited the school, they found iron sheets on the two classroom blocks. She said this also came out well on the evidence of the scene of crime officer. She further clarified that the section on which Lugoloobi is charged does not require one to be convicted first.
Namatovu said, it simply requires prosecution to show that the accused person had a reason to believe that the property was acquired as a result of committing an offence. The court hfurther heard that the Office of the Prime Minister is the victim and it is a legal entity which doesn't have corporate capacity because criminal offences can only be committed by people.
Namatovu said that whereas the defence said the accused person was never placed at the scene of the crime, this is not a case that requires the actual presence of an accused person at the scene because it was committed through speculation.
As such, Namatovu asked Justice Kajuga to be pleased to find Lugoloobi with a case to answer and put him on defence. It is against this background that Kajuga has agreed with the prosecution and ordered Lugoloobi to start defending himself.
After defending himself, the parties will be allowed to make their final submissions either oral or written before the matter can be fixed for final judgement. The case was adjourned to January 15, 2025.
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