By Frank Kamuntu
Geraldine Ssali, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperative, has been summoned by the Criminal Investigations Department of the police about monies meant for compensation of cooperative societies.
The Shs164 billion meant for some selected cooperatives was shared by mainly politicians and a few connected individuals. Ssali is supposed to report at Kibuli with her top management team that worked on the disbursement of the funds.
She was implicated by the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry which questioned the lopsided disbursement to non-claimants.
Further, Ssali, according to a recent parliamentary report, is one of those people who mismanaged money meant for cooperatives after she undermined the Inter-ministerial Committee established by the advice of the Cabinet and set up her own in MTIC. She is said to have given Bwavu Mpologoma Cooperative billions of shillings irregularly, from which her husband Busuulwa benefited. Ssali joins a list of politicians, majorly legislators who are already facing criminal charges
Earlier on, parliament recommended the sacking of Ssali over allegations of inflating the price for the renovation works at the Ministry Headquarters at Farmer’s House in Kampala.
The decision was part of the recommendations contained in the report by Parliament’s Trade and Tourism Committee following a probe into the utilization of Shs5 billion that was meant for the acquisition of new office space but the top officials at the Ministry instead opted to use the funds to carry out renovations, a decision that raised queries than the Ministry was able to provide, thus prompting prove into the expenditure.
Mwine Mpaka, Chairperson of Parliament’s Trade Committee while presenting the report faulted Ssali for failing to regulate and ensure proper utilization of funds which saw the cost of works inflated to the tune of Shs2 billion.
“The Committee therefore finds that the Permanent Secretary Geraldiine Ssali is personally liable for the dubious and mysterious inflation of the estimated contract price from Shs4.664 billion to Shs6.2 billion without any formal or legal justification,” remarked Mpaka.
In sealing Ssali’s fate, Mpaka called on the Secretary to Treasury, Ramathan Ggoogbi who is charged with supervising all Permanent Secretaries and accounting officers to relieve Ssali of her duties for causing Government financial loss.
Ms Ssali was dropped on October 65, 2023 by the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, Ramadan Ggoobi.
In the letter dated October 3, 2023, to the Ministry of Trade and co-operatives, PS Ramadan Ggoobi noted, “Reference is made on the report on the investigation into the utilization of the supplementary funds to your office for the FY 2021-2022 where Parliament received that the secretary to the treasury should exercise his authority under Section 11(2) c of the Public Finance Management Act 2015 to the appointment and designation of Ms. Geraldine Ssali as an Accounting Officer for the Ministry of trade Industry and Cooperatives.”
Ssali was, however, saved by President Yoweri Museveni when he ordered her reinstatement as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade.
The Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet, Lucy Mbonye Nakyobe referred to Museveni’s letter dated October 22, to reinstate Ssali.
“This is to request you to reinstate Ms. Geraldine Ssali Busuulwa as the Accounting Officer of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives as per the President’s directive,” Lucy Mbonye wrote to PS Ggoobi.
Ssali’s latest episode was when she was dragged to the police by a senior lawyer Sandra Aneno in the same ministry after she reported slapped her.
Source: Eagle Online
