DEFENCE TEAM: None of the prosecution witnesses placed Lugoloobi at the scene of crime

Iron Sheets Case: Minister Lugoloobi Asks Court to Acquit Him

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Lawyers representing State Minister for Economic Monitoring Amos Lugoloobi who is accused of dealing with suspect property after receiving iron sheets meant for vulnerable people of Karamoja have asked the Anti Corruption to acquit him.

The submissions were made on Monday by Lugoloobi ‘s four lawyers John Isabirye, Ritah Asiimwe, Tony Tumukunde and Alex Luganda after the prosecution closed its case against him with 11 prosecution witnesses.

Monday’s submissions were on whether Lugoloobi should be tasked to defend himself based on the available evidence from the prosecution witnesses or he should be found with no case to answer, and accordingly be set free.

The prosecution alleges that  Lugoloobi while at the office of the Prime Minister Stores in  Namanve in Mukono District and at different  places in Matuga, Wakiso District and Ntejeru North Constituency in Kayunga District dealt with government property that is  700  pre-painted iron sheets marked ‘Office of the Prime Minister.

According to the prosecution, the iron sheets which were acquired as a result of loss of property, an offense under section 10 (1) of the Anti Corruption Court, were obtained in two phases, one involving 400 iron sheets between July 14th 2022 and February 2023, and another batch of 300 sheets obtained between February 1st 2023 and March 16th 2023.

However, Lugoloobi’s lawyers told the Court that the prosecution has not provided substantial evidence to warrant a defense. They argued the Prosecution failed to address fundamental issues particularly regarding whether the iron sheets in issue were meant for Office of the Prime Minister or for vulnerable people of Karamoja.

Lugoloobi ‘s lawyer Alex Luganda said that majority of the witnesses clearly indicate that in the OPM stores at Namanve, there were other iron sheets designated for other pacify and relief bound areas. This,  he said, is further collaborated by the prosecutors who say  there was a supplementary budget for the Karamojong.

They further indicated that none of the prosecution witnesses placed Lugoloobi at the Scene of Crime and that the posecutors miserably failed to make a case that is worthy putting their client  Lugoloobi to his defense.

Lugoloobi ‘s lawyers further stated that when probed on the guidelines followed to acquire iron sheets, the prosecution  indicated that there were guidelines. However, it is Lugoloobi ‘s lawyers contention that the First  Prosecution witness who was  the Accounting Officer Geoffrey Sseremba said he didn’t have guidelines with him because they are not gazetted.

According to the defense lawyers, the Accounting Officer who was a key witness said one wouldn’t know about the guidelines if one was not working at the Office of the Prime Minister since they are not gazetted.   As such, they said that the Prosecutors are accusing  Lugoloobi of accessing the store casually.

They noted that they do not bring out with specificity who committed the offense and whether they have been charged or not yet, in order for their client to qualify to be accused of receiving stolen property. In their view, one must be convicted to have stolen something and that something to be later found with another person, which they say is not the case with their client Lugoloobi.

As such, they said that the prosecutors need to prove that the received property was stolen and and must show that the accused had reason to believe that it was illegally received. Luganda said the witnesses didn’t clarify on these contradictions and therefore, their testimonies should be treated as evidence from the bar and court  should go ahead to acquit the minister.

In response, the Prosecution, led by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Josephine Namatovu, alleges the minister received stolen iron sheets intended for vulnerable residents of Karamoja.

According to the Prosecution, the iron sheets were recovered from Lugoloobi’s farm in Bale, where his workers were found de-roofing the structure and replacing the stolen sheets with unmarked ones. Namatovu said further investigations revealed 316 iron sheets were used to roof a goat house, while 84 were donated to New Hope Primary School in Kayunga.

Assistant DPP Namatovu said when the police visited the school, they found iron sheets on  two class room blocks. She said this also came out well in the evidence of the Scene of Crime Officer.

She further clarified that the e section on which Lugoloobi is charged does not require one to be convicted first. Namatovu said it simply requires Prosecution to show that the accused person had a reason to believe that the property was acquired as a result of committing an offense.

Court has further heard that the Office of the Prime Minister is the victim and it is a legal entity  which doesn’t have corporate capacity because criminal offenses can only be committed by people.

Namatovu said that whereas the defense said the accused person was never placed at the scene of crime,   this is not a case that requires actual presence of an accused person at the scene because it was committed through peculation.

As such, Namatovu asked Justice Kajuga to be pleased  to find Lugoloobi with a case to answer and put him on defense.

The Court has fixed November 4th 2024 for its decision on whether Lugoloobi has a case to answer or not . If found that he has a case to answer, the Minister will be asked to start defending himself before final judgement is delivered.  If found that he doesn’t have a case to answer, Lugoloobi who is out on bail will be set free of the charges.

If found guilty, the Minister faces a fine not exceeding 160 currency points or imprisonment not exceeding seven years, or both.

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