Geraldine Ssali Busuulwa, the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, might soon lose her job if Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi and President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni adopt recommendations by Parliament’s Trade Committee.
The Committee of Trade, Tourism and Industry, which is chaired by Mbarara City South MP Mwine Mpaka, has released its report on an investigation into the rot at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.
The Committee urged Secretary to Treasury Ggoobi to fire PS Ssali for reportedly inflating the price of renovation works for the Ministry of Trade offices based at Farmers House.
The Committee faulted PS Ssali of being responsible for the inflation of the cost of works, making tax payers lose up to Shs2bn.
“The Committee therefore finds that Geraldine Ssali is personally liable for the dubious and mysterious inflation of the estimated contract price from Shs4.664bn to Shs6.2bn without any formal or legal justification,” said Mwine Mpaka.
If Ssali is fired over the scandal, this will be another juicy job she will be losing following her unceremonious exit from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
Parliament’s Trade Committee also recommended for the prosecution of Daniel Kalule, the transport officer at the Ministry of Trade for creating seven ghost fuel cards, resulting into the loss of Shs362,316,812.
Kalule was on the spot for claiming that fuel was utilized by three officials at the Ministry who swore that they had never beheld the fuel cars.
It should be remembered that a Museveni minister even threatened to drag government to court over the fuel and vehicles at the Ministry. (See Details Here).
Still about the scandal at the trade ministry, Ugandans were left shocked after it emerged that Shs400m had been spent on transporting documents from Kampala to Entebbe. (Read Story Here).
It also emerged that an official at the trade ministry nearly killed his colleague for trying to block his juicy multi-billion deal. Another shocking revelation was that an office attendant was more powerful that ministers and had procured multi-billion cars and took over the headquarters renovation deal. (See Details Here).
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