Phrases like ‘sacrificial lamb’ and ‘small fish’ have dominated Ugandans’ reactions on Agness Nandutu’s conviction. Former State Minister for Karamoja Affairs Agness Nandutu was on Wednesday, 08 April 2026 convicted by the Anti-Corruption Court for her role in the diversion of iron sheets meant for vulnerable communities in the Karamoja sub‑region.
Lady Justice Jane Okuo of the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court of Uganda found Nandutu guilty. Nandutu will be handed a sentence on Friday, April 10, 2026.
Prosecution had alleged that between June and July 2022, Nandutu dealt with government property consisting of 2,000 pre-painted iron sheets of gauge 28 marked “Office of the Prime Minister.”
The state prosecutors further alleged that she received and retained the said iron sheets at the Office of the Prime Minister stores in Namanve and later at her residence in Mukono District, in circumstances where she had reason to believe that the property had been irregularly obtained as a result of loss of public property.
At the time when the crimes were committed, Nandutu served as the Woman Member of Parliament for Bududa District and as Minister of State for Karamoja Affairs, a docket supervised under the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
Her ministry was implementing a government programme funded under a supplementary budget of approximately Shs39.94 billion for the 2021-2022 financial year. The programme, court further heard, was meant to support disarmament and community empowerment in the Karamoja Sub-region by distributing relief items such as iron sheets to vulnerable groups.
Under the program, the OPM procured a total of 95,044 pre-painted iron sheets, which were stored at the OPM stores in Namanve for official distribution.
When the president wanted to launch the distribution of iron sheets in Moroto District in June 2022, a requisition for 10,000 iron sheets was made, only for 1,000 iron sheets to be used for the exercise. Nandutu was at the event on June 13, 2022, after which it was clear that there were 9,000 iron sheets left in the stores.
Prosecution further presented evidence at trial proving that after the Moroto event, Nandutu was informed by her senior minister for Karamoja Affairs that up to 2,000 iron sheets of the remaining 9,000 had been allocated to her for distribution to landslide victims.
Accepting the allocation, Nandutu facilitated its collection, providing transport and instructing her political assistant to pick the iron sheets from the OPM stores on 23 June 2022.
Prosecution further offered evidence to prove that the iron sheets were first taken to Nandutu’s private residence in Wakiso District and that she counted them there.
She would then facilitate the transfer of the iron sheets to her residence in Seeta, Mukono District for storage under her authority.
Nandutu herself filed a statement during investigations in March 2023 in which she confirmed to police the events surrounding the iron sheets; she even took investigators to the farm.
The Evidence Response Team would recover up to 1,617 iron sheets from Nandutu’s premises, but Nandutu was unable to account for 383 iron sheets.
Our social media editor has been following monitoring X for reactions on Agness Nandutu’s conviction and samples some below:
Nandutu is now the yellow sacrificial lamb. Her partner-in-crime cohorts are in Kyankwanzi, squandering more public funds as she’s freezing in cells. Time is on our side; they’ll all face consequences – it’s inevitable. Everyone’s fate is tied; “empires crumble, seasons pass” – Dickson @Dickson30129666
Nandutu has been turned into a sacrificial lamb in the iron sheets scandal. She had been thrown under the bus – Samwise Gamgee @Sambannz
She became a sacrificial lamb. Other ministers were also found in possession of iron sheets meant for vulnerable people in Karamoja. Kitutu, the former minister and her boss who sanctioned the giveaway of the iron sheets, was exonerated. Police also found Kitutu’s brother-in-law with the same type of iron sheets, but she was exonerated for that as well. In Rugolobi’s case, there was evidence that he had used the iron sheets to roof his goat house, but due to pressure from voters, he was also exonerated. This is selective prosecution. – Sudhir Byaruhanga @Sudhirntv
So, court minutes ago convicts Agnes Nandutu (found guilty in the Karamoja iron sheets case, a scandal that once involved several big names and heated public attention). But honestly, when you look at it closely, it feels like out of everyone who was mentioned in this whole mess, only one person has really been made to carry the full blame. Maybe it’s because from the very start, she was never really one of them and right about now, you can’t help but think she might be regretting ever leaving NTV. AGNESSS NANDUUTUUUU…POINT BLANK!!! – Wayne Frank Ntambi @frankbalkazerg1
Nandutu is relatively a small fish🐟 AAA, and Nabanja should as well be behind bars. – Paul Lukwago @PaulLukwago2
It should be remembered that the Museveni state cleared a number of big fish in the mabaati scandal, including vice president, speaker and prime minister, as reported Here.
One Museveni minister said he did not know how the iron sheets got into his compound as detailed Here.
You can watch more on this story HERE.
