Parliament recommends sacking ministry of trade PS Ssali

Parliament has recommended the sacking and investigation of Ms Geraldine Ssali, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC).

This was after MPs yesterday adopted a report, with amendments, of the sectoral committee on Tourism, Trade and Industry which investigated the alleged misuse of a supplementary budget for the Financial Year 2021/2022. 

Led by Mr Mwine Mpaka (NRM, Mbarara City South), the Committee endorsed the removal of Ms Ssali as an accounting officer for the ministry after reasoning that she failed to ensure the proper use of money appropriated for her docket. 

“[She should be] investigated, with a view [to] prosecution by the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions),” Mr Mpaka said while referring to his report.  

The offences, Mr Mpaka said, were justified under Section 79 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), 2015 and include negligence of duty provided for under Sections 26 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) Act, 2003 and Section 45 of the PFMA, 2015.

Other recommendations were made in respect to alleged contraventions of Section 95 of the PPDA, 2003; disobedience of statutory duty under Section 116 of the Penal Code Act, Cap.120; abuse of office, causing financial loss to the government under sections 11 and 20 of the Anti-Corruption Act, 2009, among other offences.  

Ms Ssali, among other things, was faulted for approving huge cash advances for suspicious transport-related activities. 

“The committee further established that Shs570,939,000 was spent by the PS MTIC, Ms Geraldine Ssali on transport-related expenditure,” Mr Mpaka said. 

The House also heard that while a contract to buy office furniture was on June 15, 2022 awarded to Footsteps Company Limited at a contract price of Shs1 billion, the ministry never received the items. 

“The PS MTIC, Ms Geraldine Ssali, while appearing before the committee informed the committee that although fully paid [for], the furniture has never been delivered,” Mr Mpaka said.

He added: “An accounting officer, in respect of all resources and transactions of a vote, [must] put in place effective systems of risk management, internal control and audit.”

Also at issue was the money spent to buy laptops for staff to use while working from home. 
“Ms Geraldine Ssali quoted Shs200 million for procurement of laptops, which leaves Shs8 million unaccounted for since the contract price was Shs191.9 million, tax inclusive. This further creates doubt as to the authenticity of her work plan,” Mr Mpaka informed legislators. 

The committee also found her liable for the suspected inflation of the estimated cost of renovating Farmer’s House, the current home of the Trade ministry, from Shs4.6 billion to Shs6.2 billion. 

The legislators also advised that a former accounting officer at the Trade Ministry, Ms Grace Adong Choda, should also be investigated by the Inspectorate of the Government and DPP with a view to prosecution.

Although Speaker Anita Among yesterday acknowledged that there were indeed a number of issues at the Trade ministry given the findings in the report, including lack of performance security, tax evasion, lapse of internal controls and impunity, some MPs acted as mercenaries during the probe.  

Yesterday, Trade Minister, Mr Francis Mwebesa promised to take action on the recommendations by the committee.

During the debate of the report, MPs overwhelmingly approved the recommendations and even suggested sterner action. 

“All these people must be interdicted,” Ms Sarah Achieng Opendi, the Tororo Woman MP, said. 
The Amuria Woman MP, Ms Susan Amero, agreed, adding that Ms Ssali should be sacked with immediate effect so that she does not interfere with further investigations. 

Mr Muhammed Nsereko, the Kampala Central MP, said public officers who notice dirt beneath their belts should always step aside before being pushed. 

Asked for comment, Ms Ssali told Daily Monitor  last night that: “Let them recommend. Political decisions are political decisions, but the reality is different. Those people came and even saw the furniture. They even sat on the new furniture. Now they are saying there is no furniture”.
Ms Ssali said she is confident of her reputation and integrity. 

“We have been investigated for the last two years. By the way, money came late. In good faith, if they had wanted me to utilise…, don’t bring money at the end of the financial year, then, blow the whistle on me that I have not followed procedure. But all these things they don’t want to look at.

There was not even a single sentence in that report of the savings I was trying to make,” she said yesterday.

Background
Parliament’s Committee on Trade opened this inquiry while going through the Ministerial Policy Statement for the FY2023/2024 and the annual budget performance report for the FY2021/2022 of the ministry. 

The probe was triggered by a finding that Shs5 billion budged for rent of new offices in their supplementary budget was instead used to renovate Farmer’s House.