The long shadow of the Karamoja iron sheet scandal continues to haunt Mary Goretti Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu, both former ministers for Karamoja Affairs, who suffered crushing defeats in the recent National Resistance Movement (NRM) party primaries.
In last Thursday’s polls, Kitutu, the incumbent MP for Manafwa district, lost to political newcomer Annet Musibika, while Nandutu, the Woman MP for Bududa district, was decisively beaten by Agness Shiuma, who polled 44,090 votes to Nandutu’s 25,097.
Their failure to secure the NRM flag represents a significant political setback and underscores the lasting damage wrought by the 2023 scandal, which exposed widespread misappropriation of pre-painted iron sheets meant for impoverished communities in the Karamoja sub-region.
Fall from grace
Once powerful voices within the ruling party, Kitutu and Nandutu have since become symbols of official misconduct.
Investigations revealed that thousands of these essential building materials were diverted and allegedly shared among high-ranking government officials, including MPs and ministers. Kitutu, the former minister for Karamoja Affairs, found herself at the epicenter of the storm.
Accused of being the primary orchestrator of the diversions, she has since faced charges of corruption and causing financial loss to the government. Her trial has been ongoing, drawing intense public scrutiny and condemnation. For a politician who once held a significant portfolio, the inability to clinch the NRM flag in her constituency is a stark indicator of how deeply the scandal has damaged her standing with the party and the electorate.
Similarly, Nandutu, the former state minister for Karamoja Affairs, has been battling charges related to dealing in suspect property, with allegations that she received a substantial number of the diverted iron sheets. Despite her attempts to shift blame and defend her actions, the public outcry and ongoing legal proceedings have evidently taken a heavy toll on her political capital.
In one of her campaign rallies within the district, in a clip that went viral on social media platforms, Nandutu was booed by voters who called her a ‘thief’ of iron sheets. She responded by saying she was not a thief because she had not stolen from anyone’s house.
Wilson Watila, a former LC V chairperson for Bududa, avers that the scandals in which Nandutu was involved partly led to her failure to secure the NRM flag in the district. He notes that while there are many other factors that could have contributed to the MPs’ losses, the iron sheet saga was the most apparent.
“The saga partly led to the failure of the MPs to secure the flag because when people speak and air out their minds in public, like they did in Bududa, it is clear that they have never forgotten what happened, and this explains how people have voted,” he said.
Watila, however, adds that the NRM elections were marred by irregularities, including voter bribery, rigging, and violence, which also explains why some people lost.
“The whole exercise was not free and fair, so even if there were other issues like the scandals, the irregularities in the elections are also partly to blame for the loss of the MPs. There is no clear measurement you can use now until the people speak loudly in the general elections,” Watila stressed.
Andrew Nakhaboya, a journalist from Bududa, similarly believes the iron sheet saga could have contributed to Nandutu’s loss. He said that, unlike Kitutu in Manafwa, Nandutu owned up to her mistake and tried to explain to the voters what had happened, but her explanations fell on deaf ears.
“All in all, I can say it is true that the iron sheet saga affected her, but there were irregularities in Greater Bushika sub-county where registrars rigged for the one who won. Otherwise, she could have won,” he said.
Prior to the party primaries, the social media commentary and discussions about the candidature of the two former ministers mostly centred on their iron sheets scandal, with many asking their electorates not to return them to parliament.
Stephen Masiga, a researcher at the Mbale-based Makerere University campus and spokesperson of the Bugisu Cultural Institution, notes that on top of the iron sheet saga, which could have dented Nandutu’s public image, she was accused by her own constituents of being arrogant.
According to him, there were many factors contributing to the loss of several MPs in the Bugisu sub-region, including corruption scandals and failure by MPs to perform their duties. He specifically cited the Karamoja iron sheets scandal as the biggest factor in the losses of Nandutu and Kitutu.
“For Bududa, Agnes [Nandutu] was being accused of being arrogant and calling her voters poor, on top of being involved in the Karamoja iron sheets saga. For Kitutu in Manafwa, I think it was mainly the iron sheets that dented her public image,” Masiga said.
For both MPs, who were once influential voices within the NRM, the failure to secure the party flag presents a significant hurdle in their quest for re-election in 2026. While they may explore options to contest as independents, the NRM’s endorsement is often a crucial advantage in Uganda’s political landscape.
The voters didn’t receive some?