Agnes Nandutu

Agnes Nandutu is a Ugandan journalist, politician and Minister in charge of Karamoja. In 2020 she participated in the National Resistance Movement Party primaries which she lost to incumbent Woman MP Justin Khainza, and in the 2021 general election, running as an independent, she was elected Women's Representative for Bududa District.

Early life and education
Nandutu was born in Bududa District, Uganda. She belongs to the Bantu ethnic group who are the Gisu people. Nandutu attended Bumwali primary school for her elementary education, she then joined Bbulo girls secondary and later Blucheke secondary school for her high school education.

Career
In 1997, she joined Radio Uganda as a reporter. Later, she pursued a diploma in Journalism at Uganda Institute of Journalism and Media studies. She worked at Daily Monitor as a freelance reporter. Between 2002 and 2008, Nandutu worked at Impact FM as a staff reporter before she joined NTV Uganda. She was a senior political reporter at NTV Uganda. Nandutu was also a moderator and a speaker for NTV citizen debate show called "The People’s Parliament." She served as the president of the Parliamentary Journalist's Association from 2011 to 2016. She scripts and narrates the Popular satire Friday segment called Point Blank on NTV Uganda. In 2011, she received a Christmas gift from The Observer for her NTV show, Point Blank.

Controversies
In 2017, Nandutu was denied accreditation to cover the Ugandan parliament by the organization's communications director.

In 2020, during the parliamentary campaigns, Nandutu was tasked to present her husband, something she did not do and instead asked the electorate over the radio to find her a suitor and implored them to focus on effective representation instead of marriage. The marriage issue was contentious in the public. Nandutu self confessed that she is a mother of seven children though she wished not to divulge more details about it while on an interview with The Observer newspaper.

International Sanctions
On April 30, 2024, the UK's Foreign Office announced personal sanctions against Agnes Nandutu and another high Ugandan official under its Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regime for their involvement in significant corruption in relation to illegal appropriation of thousands of iron sheets allocated for housing of the poorest communities in the Karamoja region as part of a government-funded project, making her a subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban.