When he was arrested while driving along Lumumba Avenue in Kampala on April 14, 2023, State Minister for Planning Amos Lugoloobi must have been so angry at the men in uniform who uttered the words announcing his arrest but he now seems convinced that it could have been God’s plan to teach him a lesson and inspire him to do more for Ugandans.
Having cut short his trip to the US, Lugoloobi, who is also the Ntenjeru North MP, must have been expecting to face detectives over the Karamoja iron sheets scandal. He must also have thought about his impending arrest and detention since her cabinet colleague, Karamoja Affairs Minister Dr Mary Goretti Kitutu had spent her Easter holiday on remand.
Before his arrest, Lugoloobi had reportedly been summoned by CID detectives to explain why he had allegedly used 300 iron sheets met for the karachunas in Karamoja to roof his goat shed located in Kayunga District’s Misanga Village. Lugoloobi would later return the iron sheets, labelling them evil.
Lugoloobi was arrested, detained at Kira Division Police Headquarters and remanded to Luzira Prison after denying charges of dealing with suspect property contrary to Sections 21A of the Anti-Corruption Act (as amended).
It is certainly painful to go to prison but Lugoloobi says he has learnt his lessons and is now more determined than ever before to ensure that the human rights situation in police cells and the country’s prisons improves.
The legislator and minister who has refused to resign over the mabaati scandal told friends and supporters gathered at his home in Kayunga District’s Namulanda Village for a thanksgiving service that he now thinks that the Almighty God must have intended that the Minister of Planning should go to jail so that he could understand the suffering and pain that convicts and suspects on remand go through.
He went on to say that he now believes that God wanted him to witness, first hand, the bad situation in prison so that once he is out of the coolers, he can steer the process to improve the lives of prisoners across the country.
The embattled minister, who was in company of his wife Eve and their children, even revealed that staff he even engaged staff from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development who came to check on him in prison on the urgent need to improve the conditions in Ugandan prisons. He told those attending his thanksgiving service that the quest to improve the welfare of those in prison has already kicked off.
He vowed to engage officials responsible for improving the situations in prisons to ensure that they put together a comprehensive plan to improve the conditions.
Activists and opposition politicians have for many years decried the deplorable conditions in rehabilitation facilities but some in the Ugandan government have often dismissed their claims. But now, some top insiders in the Museveni administration like Lugoloobi are beginning to realize that once they become suspects – as in the case of the mabaati scandal – the only place they will be held is that cell or prison in deplorable conditions, a situation they must now improve since there are no VIP prisons.
Meanwhile, Minister Lugoloobi, just like his cabinet colleagues, is waiting for President Museveni’s political action that might include firing them. Recently, Museveni revealed what will happen to all his ministers who were accused of ‘stealing’ Karamoja iron sheets. (See Details Here).
At the weekend, a top Museveni government official revealed that fallen OPM Permanent Secretary Keith Muhakanizi had warned ministers against ‘stealing’ Karamoja iron sheets, openly telling them to carry their cross when they land in trouble. (Read Story Here).
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