The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Ms Geraldine Ssali, has become the latest high-ranking government official to be summoned as the Police Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) casts the net wider into investigations over the cooperatives scandal.
A day after Parliament’s Budget Committee chair Patrick Isiagi was summoned and grilled by the CID, Ms Ssali has now been asked to appear before the team of detectives at Kibuli. She was expected to appear today.
She will join others, including Leonard Kavundira, the Principal Cooperative Officer from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, and several MPs who are ready on remand over the alleged diversion of Shs164b that was meant for compensating several cooperatives.
A report by the Parliament’s Committee on Trade submitted to the House last year accused Ms Ssali and other top officials of financial impropriety in the management of the compensation funds for cooperatives.
Particularly, the report indicated that Ms Ssali’s husband, Mr Victor Busuulwa, irregularly received some of the money advanced to a cooperative on behalf of his wife.
The committee conducted the investigation following an August 25 directive by House Speaker Anita Among. The directive was to “conduct an inquiry into the status, governance, resourcing, and value for money for public funds allocated to Cooperatives during the period of Financial Year 2011/12 to 2022/23.”
Ms Ssali, according to the committee, used her position as permanent secretary to influence payment of Shs1.7 b to Bwavumpologoma Growers Cooperative Union Limited.
The committee found that there were several substantial withdrawals from the bank accounts of Bwavumpologoma without corresponding requisitions.
On May 16, 2021, for example, Bwavumpologoma deposited on an account held by Wilson Kasule Martin Shs350m and on the same day he withdrew the same amount. That very day, Shs300m was deposited in Mr Busuulwa’s account in Centenary Bank Kabalagala Branch. Mr Busulwa is Ms Ssali’s husband.
On December 8, 2021, Fr Deus Sekyewo deposited Shs150m on Francis Lwanga’s account and Lwanga withdrew Shs150 million the following day. On December 9, 2021, Lwanga deposited Shs150m on Mr Busuulwa’s account.
Earlier, on November 29, 2021, Masaka Catholic Dioceses deposited Shs847,808,000 to Mr Lwanga’s account. The following day, on November 30, 2021, Mr Lwanga withdrew Shs600,200,000. The committee corroborated the withdrawal with Mr Lwanga’s testimony that he withdrew UGX 446,000,000 and gave it to Mr Busuulwa. The balance, per the committee, is unaccounted for.
“Mr Victor Busuulwa informed the committee that he received money to purchase machinery, and that he needed time to check his records to verify the amount. However, Mr Lwanga Francis informed the committee in response that they have no agreement with Mr Victor Busuulwa to procure machinery,” the report notes.
The committee established that Mr Martin Wilson Kasule and Mr Lwanga who made several withdrawals from the bank account of Bwavumpologoma Growers Cooperative Union Limited were not members of the Board or management, but rather agents.
It was confirmed by the committee that on December 1, 2021, Mr Lwanga gave Mr Busuulwa Shs436m “in Nsambya as a token of appreciation to Ms Geraldine Ssali to which Mr Kasule acknowledged receipt of the above sum on his behalf because Mr Busuulwa refused to sign by appending his signature.”
The report further discloses: “That on December 9, 2021 while at Centenary Rural Development Bank (Cerudeb) Kabalagala Branch, Mr Francis Lwanga made a cash deposit of Shs150,000,000 on a bank account belonging to Victor Busuulwa at Till No4019.”