The State Minister for Finance, Amos Lugoloobi has been presented before the Anti Corruption Court for being in possession of ‘Mabaati’ meant for vulnerable communities in the Karamoja sub region.
Lugoolobi was netted on Friday evening at Ssezibwa Bridge by security operatives and locked up in the tiny cells of Kira Division Police along 13 other suspects. He spent three cold nights in the mosquito infested cells, awaiting his appearance in court.
Outside court, his relatives, friends and colleagues were denied access to him as police cordoned off the premises. Lugoloobi’s constituents at Ntenjeru meanwhile went on rampage, protesting his arrest and treatment like a chicken thief in police cells.
Lugoloobi also Ntenjeru Mp, Kayunga District will be charged under the Anti Corruption Act. The Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) reportedly preferred charges of loss of Public property contrary to section 10 (1) and being in possession of stolen property.
The Minister is among many in the ‘fisherman’ Cabinet that received iron sheets “mabaati” from the Office of Prime Minister(OPM). He caused social media traffic and wide spread condemnation when pictures of the said iron sheets roofed on his village farm went viral.
The minister was criticized for diverting part of 600 iron sheets he received for personal use as compared to his colleagues who donated them to schools and churches in his constituency. At one point a section of the public tagged him a ‘thief’, an accusation he vehemently dismissed before locals in Kayunga.
“I didn’t break into anyone’s store to steal iron sheets. They were given tome by the government and I used them to roof a school in Busolo. Locals requested me for them. I only used a batch that remained to roof the animal shelter that you saw” he defended his actions then.
Last week, the Anti Corruption Court granted the Karamoja Affairs Minister cash bail of 10 million shillings days after she was remanded to Luzira Prison on charges of causing loss of Public Property and Conspiracy to defraud. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The DPP has confirmed that other Minsters are in the pipeline to be charged with criminal offences.
The mabati were meant for Karamoja Community Empowerment Program.
