By East African Gazette
After saving the Government from losing over 2 billion shilling meant for rent, President Yoweri Museveni has ordered the reinstatement of Geraldine Ssali as the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.
In the letter dated 26 by the Head of public Service and Secretary to the cabinet, Lucy Nakyobe Mbonye “Reference is made to HE the Present ‘s letter Ref:PO/1 dated October 22,2023 concerning the above-mentioned Permanent Secretary.
“This is to request you to immediately reinstate M’s Geraldine Ssali Busuulwa as an accounting officer for the Ministry of trade, Industry and Cooperatives as per the President ‘s directive ” Nakyobe wrote
The Reinstatement of Ssali comes after a month when the Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary/ Secretary to the treasury, Ramathan Ggoobi suspended Ssali as accounting officer following financial interrogations
The quarries rose from a parliamentary probe into alleged financial misappropriate of supplementary funds at the ministry for the financial year 2021/ 2022
The committee called for Ssali’s removal from office role of accounting officer, citing abuse of office, causing financial loss, negligence of duty and other charges
The report that was adopted by parliament in August, also recommended that the ministry officials including Rosemary Asimwe, Daniel Kalule, Tom opio, and Deo Byaruhanga be investigated by the Inspectorates of Government and Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) in accordance with Anti-Corruption Act 2009
An investigation by Parliament’s Committee on Trade, Tourism, and Industry committee, headed by Mwine Mpaka, said that Ssali irregularly utilized Shs. 5 billion that was meant to rent new premises as renovations of the ministry’s offices went on.
In the letter dated October 3,2023 Ggoobi quoted the recommendation by the Parliament probe committee that asked his office to excise his Authority under the Public Finances Management Act to withdraw the appointment and designation of Ssali as the accounting officer over alleged involvement in illegal and deliberate fraudulent practices that have cost the Government a staggering 8 billion shillings.
Ssali respond during Parliament probe
While responding to allegations and interrogations, Ssali said she opted to repair the current trade ministry offices instead of renting, a move that saved the government over shs 2. On the renovation of office space at farmer’s house, said it was important to note the ministry was allocated a supplementary Budget of UGX 5 bn for this purpose. The decision to renovate was made due to a dilapidated condition of the farmer’s house.
Saying an additional UGX was allocated for FY 2022/2023 bringing the total annual rent of UGX 8 billion. Those funds were intended to improve working condition for our staff “
She explained that after careful consideration we determined that renovating the office space would be a more costly effective solution compared to incurring recurring annual rent expenses.
However, there were delays in releasing the funds, which were approved in August 2021, but disbursed in April 2022. This posed a challenge when it comes to securing suitable accommodation property. Nevertheless, we obtained clearance from the Solicitor General for our procurement method of restricted bidding and ensure compliance with Uganda PPDA Act
“Solicitor General approved the renovation of the premises and necessary supporting documents are available for reference’’ said during investigation by Parliament’s Committee on Trade, Tourism, and Industry committee