By Our Reporter
NATIONAL
The embattled State Minister for Karamoja Affairs who is currently undergoing trial at the Anti-Corruption Court has lost her bid to stop the same trial.
Agnes Nandutu, one of the Ministers being prosecuted for allegedly diverting the Karamoja iron sheets meant for the Karacunas (reformed cattle rustlers) and the vulnerable had run to the constitutional court last week saying her trial at the Anti-Corruption Court was not fair.
The High Court Anti-corruption Division Judge, Jane Kajuga this morning, 29th May, 2023 declined to stay criminal proceedings against Nandutu who is battling charges of dealing with suspect property (Iron sheets) that were meant for vulnerable people in Karamoja sub-region.
Nandutu had asked the court to temporarily halt and refer her case to the Constitutional Court for interpretation of Section 21(a) of the Anti-corruption Act 2009 ( as Amended) which provides for the charge of dealing with suspect property that she claims is too broad, unclear and vague.
However, Justice Kajuga has ruled that she is not satisfied that the wording used in that section to describe the charge of dealing with suspect property is vague and unclear to cause a reference or a miscarriage of justice to Nandutu.
Justice Kajuga has instead advised Nandutu that in order not to clog the judicial system with a multiplicity of charges, concentration should be put on the earlier petition she filed with the Constitutional Court which is also in a better position to hear her complaints in-depth.
Nandutu seeks criminal proceedings against her in relation to the theft of 2000 pieces of Iron sheets that were meant to empower vulnerable Karamoja communities be halted until the Constitutional Court can rule on the validity of the charge which she claims to be vague, unclear, and too broad to enable her defend her herself.
The journalis-turned politician through her lawyer, Caleb Alaka, states that her charge cannot stand because the framers of that particular section of the Anti-corruption Act purposed at confiscating and recovering stolen property of a convicted person which could have been concealed or hidden by a third party.
Alaka urges that since nobody has ever been convicted of stealing the 2000 contentious Iron sheets, there is no way prosecution can tell that the iron sheets found at Nandutu’s home are suspect property.
However, Justice Kajuga instead notes that the charge is well stated that between June and July 2022 at OPM stores in Namanve and her home in Mukono district, the minister received and harboured 2000 pieces of pre-painted Iron sheets marked “Office of the Prime Minister” that were meant for Karamoja Empowerment Programme while having reason to believe that the same was stolen property.
While Nandutu’s lawyers stressed that they will pursue the constitutional petition as advised, Justice Kajuga has warned that unless Nandutu obtains from the Constitutional Court an interim Injunction staying the proceedings in her court, she will start hearing evidence from prosecution witnesses on Thursday next week.
In her petition filed on Wednesday, 24th May, 2023, the minister contended that the offence of dealing with suspect property that she is charged with is not well defined as demanded by the Constitution.
“The elements/ ingredients for the offence as provided for under Section 21 A (2) of the Anti-Corruption Act, 2009 as amended are ambiguous, vague and too broad to amount to a precise definition of an offence which is what is required under Article 28 (12) of the 1995 Constitution,” Ms Nandutu says.
She added: “…I further state that the provision of Section 21 A (1) of the Anti-Corruption Act, 2015 under which I was charged with is too imprecise from a penal legislation.” She also averred that the precision and clarity in the definition of a criminal offence is essential if she is to have a fair trial.
