The Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala has temporarily blocked the trial of embattled Karamoja affairs minister Mary Goretti Kitutu in the iron sheets scandal, pending the determination of her appeal on torture allegations.

In her ruling delivered on Wednesday, February 7, High Court judge Jane Okuo Kajuga said no miscarriage of justice will be occasioned if the proceedings stay until Kitutu's appeal is determined at the Court of Appeal.

"It would be pointless to continue with the trial and the Court of Appeal determines otherwise," she said.

Kitutu, who is also the Manafwa District Woman Member of Parliament, is facing trial at the Anti-Corruption Court together with her brother, Michael Naboya Kitutu and personal assistant Joshua Abaho.

Kitutu is battling charges of loss of public property in connection to the diversion of iron sheets meant for the Karamoja region, while Naboya is accused of receiving stolen property. On the other hand, Abaho is battling charges of corruption.

Kitutu wants charges of loss of public property and conspiracy to defraud levelled against her declared a nullity by the Court of Appeal, on account of the violation of her non-derogable rights to a fair hearing and freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment.

She contends that Justice Kajuga erred in law and facts when she held in her ruling dated November 28, 2023, that her rights to a fair hearing had not been violated through denial of disclosure of exculpatory exhibits and documents in possession of the state.

“I pray that the appeal be allowed and the ruling and orders of the Anti-Corruption Court be set aside,” Kitutu requested.

Kitutu also faults the trial judge for declining to address her complaint that there was malicious prosecutorial misconduct disclosed in the withholding of exculpatory exhibits and documents.

She also argues that the trial judge erred in law when she held that the impugned acts constituting torture needed to have been inflicted intentionally and caused severe pain and suffering on her (Kitutu).

Kitutu also claims that her rights to legal representation had been violated during her interrogation by the Police. The minister further purports that she was blindfolded, denied food, placed in solitary confinement and detained for over 48 hours before arraignment in court.

In rebuttal, State Attorney Johnson Natuhwera asked the court to dismiss the application on the grounds that it was brought in bad faith with the intention of delaying the trial.

Natuhwera submitted that the criminal trial against Kitutu is a matter of public interest and takes precedence over civil matters.

“The applicant has not demonstrated that the application has any chance of success and no extraordinary circumstances have been illustrated to warrant the stay of the proceedings. We submit that the application has no likelihood of success,” Natuhwera said.

According to Natuhwera, Kitutu will not suffer any irreparable damage in case the trial proceeds.

“It is our submission that the applicant will not suffer nor will the application be rendered nugatory since the law allows the trial to go on concurrently,” Natuhwera said.