The Secretary to the Treasury, Ramathan Ggoobi has confirmed clipping the wings of the Ministry of Trade Permanent Secretary, Geraldine Ssali who is no longer an accounting officer.
Responding to a question on Friday, Ggoobi said the decision came after a recommendation by parliament after an inquiry into the activities of the Ministry of Trade.
“Parliament carried out an investigation into the activities of the Ministry of Trade and made recommendations among others that this ministry should ensure going forward, accountability is guaranteed. I therefore went ahead with guidance of my technical people to kick start the process of implementing the recommendation of parliament and it is what we did,” Ggoobi said on Friday.
In August, Parliament recommended the sacking of Ssali for failure to control the irregular and improper use of money appropriated to the vote for procurement of renovation works on offices used by the Ministry of Trade at Farmer's House.
The Parliamentary Trade Committee said Geraldine Ssali was responsible for inflating the price of renovation works by Shs2 billion.
“The committee therefore finds that Geraldine Ssali is personally liable for the dubious and mysterious inflation of the estimated contract price from Shs4.664b to Shs6.2b without any formal or legal justification,” the committee’s report read in part.
The committee also said Ssali should be investigated for prosecution by the DPP over the mess that marred the renovation of Farmers’ House.
Speaking on Friday, the Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, Ramathan Ggoobi said owing to the recommendation by parliament, the ministry had to act.
“ As a ministry we are responsible for public finance management and ensuring resources are well spent and accounted for .We are not responsible for administration of institutions and only superintend over the role of accounting officer,” Ggoobi said.
The development means Ssali will remain the permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Trade but will no longer but the accounting officer.
This means she will be in charge of the administration of the ministry but not the accounting officer.
Ggoobi said, “ She is still the Permanent Secretary until the appointing authority decides otherwise. What we are talking of is the role of being an accounting officer. I don’t sack people but relieve them of responsibility to account and stay in their substantive roles as permanent secretary.”
Geraldine Ssali recently told journalists that parliament was led on a wild goose chase by disgruntled former employees of the ministry.
“We have been updating the committee since February 2023 but I don’t know whether it disappears in their inboxes or they are given fresh evidence and taken on a wild goose chase. I don’t know what is happening but it is clear they are being misled,” she said.
The Trade Ministry Permanent Secretary described as disgruntled, Everest Ahimbisibwe, a suspended Principal Assistant Secretary at the ministry and Alfred Lapyem of being jilted after being investigated and either suspended or sacked.
“No one wants to have disciplinary charges against them. He is undergoing a disciplinary hearing and was interdicted. That person( Ahimbisibwe) has a litany of disciplinary cases under investigations including misappropriation of fuel and threatening to kill his colleague. How can someone say they used fuel worth shs7 million in a month? He had turned it into a cash bonanza and an investigation is ongoing,” Ssali said.
