The Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court has sentenced Bududa District Woman Member of Parliament Agnes Nandutu to four years in prison for her role in the illegal acquisition and possession of government iron sheets intended for vulnerable Karachuna in Karamoja.
Trial judge Jane Okuo ruled that the period Nandutu spent on remand will be deducted from her sentence.
The court also ordered that all recovered iron sheets be returned.
In addition, the court barred Nandutu from holding public office for a period of ten years, citing the gravity and nature of the offence, as well as findings from the offence impact assessment report.
Earlier in the day, Nandutu made an emotional plea for leniency, asking for forgiveness from the people of Karamoja, the President, and her constituents.
“I would like to express my remorse to the people of Karamoja and the appointing authority. Please forgive me,” Nandutu told court.
She prayed for a non-custodial sentence, citing her deteriorating health condition, saying she has lumps in her lungs that occasionally cause her to lose consciousness.
Nandutu also told court that she is a single mother of seven children and the sole caregiver to her 81-year-old mother.
In her mitigation, she said she had returned the iron sheets and paid in cash for those that were missing, urging the court to consider this as a factor for leniency.
However, the prosecution opposed a lighter sentence, urging court to impose a penalty of not less than five years.
It argued that the iron sheets remained in Nandutu’s possession for nine months, indicating that the offence was premeditated. The prosecution further contended that the return of the iron sheets only came after police intervention.
After hearing submissions from both sides, the court adjourned earlier in the day before delivering the final sentence in the afternoon.
On April 8, 2026, Justice Okuo had convicted Nandutu of dealing with suspect property contrary to Section 21A(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act, following prosecution by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
Court heard that between June and July 2022, Nandutu received and retained 2,000 pre-painted iron sheets marked “Office of the Prime Minister,” knowing or having reason to believe they had been irregularly obtained from a government programme.
The iron sheets were part of a wider consignment procured under a supplementary budget of approximately Shs39.94 billion for the 2021/2022 financial year to support disarmament and community empowerment efforts in the Karamoja sub-region.
Evidence presented in court showed that out of 95,044 iron sheets procured and stored in Namanve, a requisition of 10,000 sheets was made for a presidential launch in Moroto District, but only 1,000 were officially issued, leaving a significant surplus.
According to the prosecution, Nandutu was informed that 2,000 iron sheets had been allocated to her, allegedly for landslide victims. She accepted the allocation and facilitated their collection.
On June 23, 2022, she provided transport funds and directed her political assistant to pick up the iron sheets from the Office of the Prime Minister stores.
The consignment was first delivered to a private residence in Wakiso District before being transferred to her home in Seeta, Mukono District.
Investigations in March 2023 revealed that Nandutu recorded a statement with police and led authorities to her farm, where the Evidence Response Team recovered 1,617 iron sheets.
She was unable to account for the remaining 383.
The court concluded that she knowingly received and retained government property that had been unlawfully diverted from a public programme intended to benefit vulnerable communities.
