The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Director of Finance Steven Mwanje has made revelations into the Fund’s alleged mismanagement, saying that his team was subjected to too much pressure from bosses above to sneak big money figures in budgets wantonly.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Select Committee investigating the alleged rot at the NSSF, Mwanje lamented that the budgetary process “this time around was very stressful”.
“We received a lot of undue influence which is not normal,” Mwanje said.
Mwanje said that they were specifically asked to put amounts into the budget that were unexplainable.
“The Managing Director told us that in no certain terms was under pressure from his bosses and we needed to include that figure (Shs1.8b) in the budget,” Mwanje said.
The Shs1.8b has become a contentious subject after it was revealed that it was disbursed to trade unions NOTU and COFTU but there was not any accountability made.
NSSF officials claim the money was used under their social corporate responsibilities programs, but do not have proof to show.
Mwanje says that while they are aware that the Shs800m out of the Shs1.8b went to the trade unions, they were never made aware of the route taken by the balance of the monies.’
NSSF MD Richard Byarugaba also claims that he was under political pressure, accusing Minister of Gender Betty Amongi of taking Shs250m of the money while the rest was shared by board members in no particular order.
Byarugaba disagrees with Mwanje
In the same hearing, Byarugaba disagreed with Mwanje, saying that a breakdown was shared on the Shs1.8b.