Court will on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, hear an application in which Karamoja affairs minister Mary Goretti Kitutu is challenging the legality of the witness summons and investigations against her in relation to the supplementary budget for peace-building activities.  

Through her lawyer, Jude Byamukama, Kitutu argues that it will be a violation of the sub judice rule if the investigations proceed before the court pronounces itself on the matter.

The sub judice rule restricts public discussion of matters pending before the courts.

Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga of the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court will hear the matter.

On Thursday, January 11, 2024, Kitutu failed to honour the summons to appear before Inspector General of Government (IGG) Beti Kamya because she was unwell.

The condition, according to lawyer Byamukama, made it impossible for Kitutu to physically honour the summons issued by Kamya.

The minister was expected to provide the IGG information about the ongoing inquiry in the supplementary funds released to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to support peace-building activities in the Karamoja sub-region in the 2021/2022 financial year.

But (Kitutu) instead sent her lawyer, Byamukama, to explain her predicament to the IGG.

IGG spokesperson Ali Munira later also confirmed that indeed that is the explanation the lawyer gave them. She, however, said the minister will be summoned on a date that will be communicated to her soon.

The December 6, 2023, summons was received by Kitutu last week (January 4) and comes on the backdrop of another directive to the Police to search Kitutu's residence in Bbunga, Kampala.