Cough Tax Payer’s Money: Parliamentary Trade Committee Wants Ssali Arrested Over Missing 8 Billion Shillings

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The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives, Geraldine Ssali, has been recommended to be fired by the Ugandan Parliament’s Trade Committee.

The committee’s conclusion follows accusations made against Ssali regarding her alleged participation in unlawful and intentional fraudulent actions that have cost the government an astounding 8 billion shillings.

A recent investigation into the controversy surrounding the use of 5 billion shillings—originally earmarked for rent—for the Farmers House restoration by the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives is now complete.

The committee has demanded Ssali’s dismissal as a result of the investigation’s conclusions, alleging charges of abuse of office, inflicting financial loss, carelessness of duty, and other offenses.

According to Mwine Mpaka, the chair of the Trade Committee, “They further want Ssali prosecuted by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for negligence of duty, disobedience, and causing financial loss.”

Ssali’s problems don’t end there, as the investigation’s conclusions indicate that the monies were misappropriated.

The procurement processes were found to have irregularities and illegalities, and Mpaka stressed that “all the procurement processes were irregular, illegal, and a nullity.”

One shocking finding of the study was the huge shillings 570 million spent on document transfers from the Kampala ministry headquarters to Entebbe.

If more relocations are required, the committee estimates that this amount might increase to shillings 1.6 billion.

As required by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) Act, the contract winner was only publicly announced for three days throughout the procurement procedure, which was fraudulent.

The contractor, Sarick Construction Company Limited, has increased its demand from the original 4.6 billion shillings estimated and approved by the Ministry of Works and Transport to 8.4 billion shillings, which has generated concerns from the committee.

The committee called for an investigation into Transport officer Daniel Kalule for his alleged role in facilitating the creation of ghost fuel cards, which led to a loss of shillings 362 million, in addition to recommending a forensic audit of the shillings 570 million used for document transportation.

Trade Minister Fred Mwebesa promised the legislature that response to these grave claims and suggestions would be swift.

The executive branch is required to report back to the house within two weeks of taking this move, the Speaker of Parliament emphasized.

With parliament taking decisive measures to guarantee that those accountable for financial malfeasance be held accountable for their acts, this incident serves as a reminder of the significance of transparency and accountability in governmental institutions.