Two ministers yesterday sent their aides to deliver consignment of iron sheets they had picked from Karamoja Affairs ministry, joining a growing list of political executives returning the government assets that have led three colleagues to be indicted.
The government bought the roofing materials for free distribution to poor Karamojong and reformed youthful warriors locally known as Karachunas, but top government officials in Kampala instead appropriated the iron sheets among themselves.
In a cue to a letter by President Museveni who appoints them, representatives of the ministers and other political executives have since last week been scrambling to return to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) the property that belongs to government.
Lands minister Judith Nabakooba and Government Chief Whip Hamson Obua, whose portfolio is Cabinet-equivalent, through aides brought back 300 iron sheets each.
The items were, however, not formally received in the OPM stores as Mr David Kayongo, the senior assistant secretary for finance and administration at the OPM, left abruptly ostensibly to attend to other urgent matters.
“I have been called for an emergency meeting and will receive them [iron sheets] officially at 8am [today],” Mr Kayongo told journalists camped at the store premises.
There were also no police detectives and Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) staff on site to supervise the exercise, ascertain the quality and record numbers of the returned iron sheets in line with exhibit documentation protocol.
The rush by top government officials follows President Museveni’s directive in an April 3 letter to recipients to return the iron sheets in their possession, pay cash equivalent to values if donated and face prosecution besides pending “political action”.
Among those who complied by returning the iron sheets included Parliament Speaker Anita Among (500), State Minister for Finance (Planning) Amos Lugoloobi (600) and his Defence counterpart Jacob Oboth-Oboth (300).
Finance minister Matia Kasaija returned 298 out of 300 iron sheets he reportedly received, and promised to return the balance on a later date.
