The State Minister for Karamoja Affairs Agnes Nandutu has been granted a cash bail of 10 million shillings by the High Court Anti-Corruption Division in Kololo, Kampala.

In applying for bail, some of the grounds the minister cited included that she is a law-abiding citizen who has been voluntarily reporting to police whenever called upon and is a known patient of severe venous insufficiency, a disease that can cause sudden blood clot formation, needing specialized medical attention. The Hon. Nandutu had been on remand at Luzira Prisons for about three weeks.

On Thursday morning, the state minister for Karamoja affairs, Agnes Nandutu, who is also the Bududa district woman MP was granted bail. This was during a bail hearing presided over by Justice Jane Kajuga Okuo at the High Court Anti-Corruption in Kololo, Kampala.

Lady Justice Okuo Kajuga granted the minister a cash bail of shs 10m on grounds of ill health and presumption of innocence and presentation of substantial sureties, each of whom was bonded at shs50m, not cash.

The Hon. Nandutu has been charged with dealing with suspect property, to wit 2,000 pre-painted iron sheets of gauge 28 marked Office of the Prime Minister, contrary to Section 21A (1) of the Anti-Corruption Act. She denies the charges.

Justice Kajuga accepted Hon. Nandutu’s sureties ensuring her compliance to court requirements. One of her sureties is Budadiri West MP Nathan Nandala Mafabi was also told to deposit his land title suited at Namugongo, Wakiso District.

Minister Nandutu is among the three ministers who have so far been charged in the courts of law in connection with the alleged diversion of iron sheets meant for vulnerable people in the Karamoja sub-region.

The others are; Ms Mary Goretti Kitutu (Karamoja Affairs Minister) and Amos Lugoloobi (State Minister for Finance, in charge of Planning).

She, however, is the first person to be committed to the high court for trial.

Mary Prima Awor