NEWS– Ministry of Trade Permanent Secretary Geraldine Ssali Busulwa has been charged, remanded to Luzira prison and committed to stand trial before the High court’s Anti-corruption Division on charges of Abuse of office, causing Government a financial loss and conspiring with 3 MPs, a lawyer and an official from her ministry to defraud govt of more than 3.6 billion shillings that was meant to compensate war loss victims in their co-operative unions.
Ssali was first brought before the same Court yesterday but chief magistrate Joan Aciro ordered that she be returned back to police custody until today when she has made a ruling accepting the new changes on the charge sheet made by the DPP that introduced Ssali as the 6th suspect.
Ssali has today been arraigned in the Dock alongside MPs, Micheal Mawanda , Ignatius Wamakuyu, Paul Akamba , lawyer Julius Kirya Taitankonko and Leonard Kavundira; a principle co-operative officer in the trade ministry who have been on remand for a month now on charges of Diversion of public resources and Conspiracy to defraud .
However Ssali and the MPs have not pleaded to the charges after the DPP’s amendments also introduced a new charge of money laundering which is grave in nature and only tribal by the High court. This means the suspects have also lost their bid to apply and be released on bail at this stage as they can only do so in the High court where they have also been committed to.
Prosecution states that Geraldine Ssali Busulwa during the financial year 2021/ 2022 and 2022/ 2023 while employed as a permanent Secretary and assigned the role of an accounting officer in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and co-operatives, she irregularly introduced Buyaka Growers co-operative society LTd among the co-operatives to be compensated by government for the war loss yet the same had not been listed for a supplementary budget of August 2021.
That Ssali in further performance of her duties, made irregular payments to a tune of 3, 868, 714, 611 billion shillings to Kirya and company advocates; a law firm belonging to co-suspect lawyer Julius Kirya Taitankonko under the guise of compensating war victims of Buyaka Growers cooperatives- Well knowing that her actions will cause government a Financial loss because the said payment was in contravention of the Treasury instructions of 2017.
Ssali is further accused of conspiring with Igara East Mp Micheal Mawanda, Elgon County MP Iganatius Wamakuyu, Busiki County MP Paul Akamba, lawyer Julius Kirya Taitankonko and Leonard Kavundira ; a principle co-operative officer in the trade ministry to defraud Government of 3.4 billion shillings which was intended to compensate war victims for Buyaka Growers Co-operative society.
The introduction of Ssali and the new charges of money laundering, stealing by agent and receiving stolen property means that the three MPs , lawyer Taintankonko and Kavundira had to be read to the charges afresh. However the chief state Attorney Edward Muhumuza has informed court that inquiries in the matter were complete and had instructions from his boss to send the 6 suspects to the Anti-corruption Highcourt’s division for trial at the convenient session.
Muhumuza then presented committee papers containing the summary of evidence for the DPP. According to the DPP, MP Mawanda was a client of Kirya and company advocates where lawyer Julius Kirya is a sole signatory to a DFCU account of the said advocate company.
Mps Akamba and Wamakuyu are members of the Parliamentary Budget committee and where a supplementary budget to compensate various co–operative SACCOs of war claimants was presented. That Buyaka put in a claim of 17.3 bn shillings and Ssali wrote to the Ps finance requesting for a supplementary budget to compensate Buyaka which was later approved without any justification since Buyaka was not on the list of co-operative societies to be compensated.
That later the 17.3 billion shillings was paid to the account of Kirya and company advocates after Kavundira coursed Buya.
