IRON SHEETS SCANDAL: ‘I don’t Know How 300 Iron Sheets Meant for Karamoja Reached My Compound’- Min. Matia Kasaija Insists

Finance Minister Matia Kasaija has informed the Presidential Affairs Committee investigating the mismanagement of relief items for the people of Karamoja that he received 300 iron sheets from the Office of the Prime Minister and they are still laying in his compound.

However, Kasaija said he never asked for them. He said he is looking for someone to give them to.

“Thanks for giving me the chance to substantiate the issues. I never applied for them. I did not ask anybody that please give me iron sheets. Someone called and said the Office of the Prime Minister is donating iron sheets. The next thing I see, 300 iron sheets in my compound and they are still there,” Kasaija told the Committee chaired by Adjuman Woman MP Margaret Ababiku.

Kasaija told the Committee that he is totally innocent. 

When the committee asked him for the person who called him, he said they called his personal assistant and offered to come with him when he appears before the Committee again.

On February 15, legislators under the Karamoja Parliamentary Group (KPG) accused the Office of the Prime Minister of diverting iron sheets, goats, and foods that were meant to benefit Karamoja residents, who in the recent past were affected by starvation and spates of insecurity.

Ministers that include, Judith Nabakooba, Matia Kasaija, Rebecca Kadaga, Amos Lugolobi, Moriku Kaducu, Jacob Oboth Oboth, and Obua Dennis Hanson, among others, were named as beneficiaries of the iron sheets.

On Monday, the Parliamentary Presidential and Foreign Affairs Committee began inquiries into the matter. Karamoja leaders were the first to appear before the committee and revealed that only 1,000 of an expected consignment of 100,000 iron sheets had been supplied to the region.

This afternoon, Kasaija who also appeared before the committee claimed that he does not know how the iron sheets found their way into his compound in Kibaale

“I did not request the iron sheets but I received a call from an official from the Office of the Prime Minister informing me of how they were to deliver iron sheets to me,” said Kasaija.

“I first received 450 iron sheets, and I donated some to a school in my constituency. I have a balance, and I don’t know where to put them,” he added.

Kasaija further stated that he was, however, shocked to find 300 iron sheets in his compound.

“I am totally innocent. I never asked for the iron sheets. The iron sheets found themselves in my compound,” the minister told the committee.

On Tuesday, Speaker of parliament Anita Among also said that she never asked for iron sheets but she saw them in her constituency.

“I saw iron sheets in Bukedea; I didn’t ask for them, but I ordered that they be given to government schools, innocently. I didn’t open a shop to sell them. Let’s wait for the committee report, and this House will take a decision,” she said.

Kasaija, who doubles as the Buyanja member of parliament (MP), is accused, along with other senior cabinet members, of fraudulently receiving iron sheets from the OPM under the infamous “Karamoja iron sheet bonanza.” Samuel Muhindo transcribed the discussion with minimal adjustments.