In a significant legal ruling, High Court Judge Jane Kajuga has upheld the authority of Inspector General of Government Beti Kamya, allowing her to summon Karamoja Affairs Minister Mary Goretti Kitutu to account for the management of supplementary funds allocated during the fiscal year 2021/2022.
The decision marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing scrutiny of the said Minister with other government officials shedding light on the accountability processes within the administration.
It should be recalled that Minister Kitutu whose base is in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and was charged by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) with two counts of Loss of Public Property c/s 10(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act 2009 and Conspiracy to Defraud c/s 309 of the Penal Code Act Cap 120 in Criminal Case No. HCT-00-AC-005-2023 which is before this court.
Minister Kitutu is charged along with her assistant, Joshua Abaho and Naboya Micheal Kitutu however the trial has not commenced, having been stalled by several applications made by her.
One of the applications was brought before justice Kajunga rose from the actions of the prosecuting agency, the Inspectorate of Government (IG) Kamya which issued written summons dated 6th December 2023 requiring the minister to appear at her offices on the 11th of January 2024 to give information on an ongoing inquiry, and to produce any documents in respect of the management of supplementary funds released to the OPM for FY 2021/2022.
Before the due date, the applicant through her lawyers,Kole the minister filed three applications; the first being Miscellaneous Application No 2/2024, seeking a permanent injunction restraining the Inspectorate of Government from conducting its investigations, and declarations that the act of summoning the applicant interfered with her right to a fair trial.
In her application, she asserted that The acts of the IGG of summoning and subsequently initiating parallel criminal charges against the her vide HCT-00-AC-C0-0056- 2023 founded on the same character with criminal charges for which she is already charged in HCT-00-AC-005-2023 contravene the applicant’s rights to a fair hearing.
She then asked the court for a permanent injunction to be issued restraining the employees from the office of IGG and agents from prosecuting her in respect of the alleged mismanagement of supplementary funds released to the Office of the Prime Minister to support peace-building activities in the Karamoja sub- region.
However in her ruling delivered on Monday, the High Court Judge Kajunga ruled that she was unable to find out that the acts of the IGG of summoning and subsequently initiating parallel criminal charges against the Minister vide HCT-00- AC-C0-0056-2023 founded on the same character with criminal charges for which she is already charged in HCT-00-AC-005-2023 contravene her rights to a fair hearing.
She also ruled that the actions of the IGG in initiating additional criminal proceedings vide HCT-00-AC-C0-0056-2023 against the Minister on allegations arising from alleged mismanagement of supplementary funds released to the Office of the Prime Minister to support peace- building activities in the Karamoja sub-region in FY 2021/2022 don’t violate the Minister’s due process rights guaranteed under the constitution of the Republic of Uganda.
“The Inspectorate of Government, its employees or agents shall not be restrained from prosecuting the applicant in respect of the alleged mismanagement of supplementary funds released to the Office of the Prime Minister to support peace- building activities in the Karamoja sub-region. The application fails and is accordingly dismissed,” she ruled.
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