Nassali back to office despite graft charges
What you need to know:
- Background. On August 8, Dr Nassali was arraigned before the Anti-Corruption Court and charged with causing financial loss to government.
In what appears to be a slap in the face of the Inspector General of Government, the former secretary to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Dr Rose Nassali Lukwago, yesterday returned to office despite facing corruption charges.
Dr Nassali told Daily Monitor last evening that she had officially resumed her duties at the JSC and vowed to start from where she had stopped two months ago because President Museveni renewed her contract.
“I have been given another opportunity to serve the people of Uganda and yes, I am back in office,” Dr Nassali said in a telephone interview.
On August 8, Dr Nassali was arraigned before the Anti-Corruption Court and charged with causing financial loss to government for allegedly paying Shs33.8m to a consulting firm.
The charges arose from her previous work at the Education ministry.
She is currently on a cash bail of Shs3m and the case is still pending before the Kololo-based court.
Dr Nassali had left JSC a week to her court appearance after her contract expired. Mr Ronald Sekajja, the registrar of education and public affairs at JSC, has been holding the docket in her absence.
Sources at JSC told this newspaper that Dr Nassali spent the bigger part of the day yesterday exchanging pleasantries with the staff who were happy to see her back.
Ms Munira Ali, the IGG spokesperson, explained that at the time of charging Dr Nassali, her contract at JSC had expired, hence there was no need to cause her interdiction.
Ms Munira added that now that her contract has been renewed and yet she is still an accused person, they will write to Mr John Mitala, the head of Public Service, to cause her interdiction based on the Public Service Standing Orders.
According to Section F-s (8) of the Public Service Standing Orders, any public official facing criminal charges has to be interdicted to allow investigations.
The rules
Interdiction is the temporary removal of a public officer from exercising his or her duties while an investigation over a particular misconduct is being carried out.
The standing orders further state that the investigation shall be carried out by the responsible officer by observing, among others, that the charges against the said officer are investigated expeditiously and concluded. During the interdiction period, the affected officer earns half pay of their monthly salary.
Dr Nassali is jointly charged with Dr S. Opio Okiror, the current commissioner for human resource at the Judiciary, and Mr Cuthbert Kagabo, the former deputy director of AH Consulting Limited.
The ombudsman alleges that in Financial Year 2014/15 at the Education ministry in Kampala, Dr Nassali, Dr Okiror, Mr Kawooya and Mr Kagabo, in performance of their duties, unlawfully facilitated over payment to AH Consulting Limited, well knowing that the acts would cause a financial loss of Shs33.8m to government.
The IGG further alleges that in August 2014 at the Education ministry, Dr Nassali did an arbitrary act of contracting AH Consulting Limited to recruit five technical staff to work for the ADB V HEST project, well aware that the required staff had already been recruited, which act was prejudicial to the interests of the government.
Dr Nassali denied all the charges.
