UGANDA'S MARY GORETTI KITUTU TO SPEND EASTER IN JAIL OVER ROOFING-SHEETS SCANDAL

KAMPALA -A Ugandan cabinet minister is to spend Easter in jail after being charged over a scandal involving the theft of thousands of metal roofing sheets.

They were intended for vulnerable communities in the north-eastern Karamoja region.

Mary Goretti Kitutu Kimono, the minister for the region, pleaded not guilty in court but was denied bail.

At least 10 other senior government figures are alleged to have received some of the stolen corrugated iron.

These include the vice-president, the prime minister, the parliamentary Speaker and other ministers, according to the inspector general of government.

Some of them told a parliamentary committee investigating the corruption scandal, involving 14, 500 missing iron sheets, that they had not asked for them.

The prime minister has apologised and urged other officials to return the sheets. Speaker Anita Among told the house that she had returned the ones she had received.

One minister was recently forced to remove some from the roof of his goat shed, local media reported.

Karamoja has for decades faced persistent droughts and flooding when it rains, leaving many in the semi-arid north-eastern region dependent on aid.

Kitutu will remain in custody until next Wednesday. It is alleged that instead of distributing the roofing materials to Karamoja communities, she gave them to her relatives and officials.

"I have understood the charge and it's not true," she responded in court, speaking firmly.

She has been charged alongside her brother, Michael Naboya Kitutu, who pleaded not guilty to receiving 100 of the corrugated iron sheets.

The minister's court appearance was highly anticipated. On arrival, she covered her head and face with a piece of cloth to shield herself from the clamouring media. – BBC.