One would ask, was permanent secretary Geraldine Ssali's option of Renovating Trade Ministry Offices Cheaper than Renting Shs 8bn Office Space at Kingdom Kampala? Yes, it is.
This was the main focus of why parliament had earlier recommended that Ssali should be dismissed from the ministry for irregularities and corruption-related cases.
Although the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Geraldine Ssali, defended her decision to renovate the available office space at Farmers’ House in Kampala instead of spending a staggering Shs8bn on renting office space at Kingdom Kampala Building owned by businessman Sudhir Ruparelia, the parliamentary committee never gave her attention, it should be noted that there is a group "mafia" which targets huge sums of funds from Government.
According to our Investigative journalist team, there is a group of government officials and a well-known tycoon who pushed the expulsion of Ssali from office to strike a deal.
According to PS Ssali, she saved billions of money which was about to be smashed by the Mafia group.
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“After careful consideration, we determined that renovating the office space would be a more cost-effective solution compared to incurring recurring annual rent expenses,” said Ssali.
Parliament’s Committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry which was investigating the Trade Ministry’s decision to use supplementary funds amounting to Shs5 billion originally meant for renting new offices at Kingdom Kampala Building, for the rehabilitation of their existing offices at Farmers House on Parliamentary Avenue said this was not called for.
The committee wanted PS Ssali to rent the building, instead of renovating its own home.
During the committee meeting held on Monday, 03 July 2023, Hon. Mwine Mpaka disclosed that the ministry had committed the government to a multi-year expenditure of Shs6 billion without obtaining authorization from Parliament, which he said is a violation of the Public Finance Management Act.
The meeting also revealed that the rehabilitation contract was awarded through direct procurement, bypassing necessary due diligence procedures.
Mpaka highlighted discrepancies in the cost of the renovation project where the initial estimate from the Ministry of Works was Shs3.1 billion, but this was later inflated to Shs6.2 billion, suggesting potential misconduct in fund allocation.
“The person who entered the Bills of Quantities (BOQs) into the system claims that he was also removed from the system and transferred. The procurement officer claimed that he was also transferred,” Mpaka said.
What Ssali spoke out
However, Ssali said the Rationalization of Government Agencies (RAPEX) Program is currently being implemented in Uganda to reduce costs associated with government office space rent.
“Renting office space at Shs 8Bn would have contradicted this objective,” said Ssali, who joined the Trade Ministry in 2021.
“It is crucial to highlight that if these funds were not utilized as intended, they would have been returned to the Treasury per legal requirements,” said Ssali, adding, “The Solicitor General approved the renovation of the premises and all necessary supporting documents are available for reference.”
“Additionally, an additional Shs 3Bn was allocated for FY 2022/23 bringing the total annual rent expense to Shs 8Bn. These funds were intended to improve working conditions for our staff,” she emphasized.
Parliament has also queried the ministry’s procurement of laptops worth Shs162 million for staff members to work from home.
Here, Ssali said the laptops were procured to help staff work from home during the renovation process and that they were individually picked up from Farmers House and not delivered to individual homes.
WHAT ABOUT THE FILES?
It was also revealed that the ministry spent an exorbitant amount of Shs400 million on transporting files from Kampala to Entebbe during the rehabilitation process, which raised eyebrows among committee members.
Hon. David Kalwanga (NUP, Busujju County) raised concerns about the cost of transporting files to Entebbe, questioning why it amounted to Shs400 million when a truck full of sand costs only Shs2 million from Masaka to Kampala.
In response, Ssali said contrary to the exaggerated figure of Shs400m, the actual cost incurred by the Ministry in transporting the files was Shs59.3m.
“This includes various expenses such as disassembling furniture, packaging materials, hiring cargo tracks, labor, and fuel,” she observed.
Parliament has also investigated the procurement of five vehicles at a cost of Shs 600 million each.
In a statement, Ssali said, “With regards to the acquisition of government vehicles, an amount of Shs 2.8Bn from the 2021/2022 fiscal year budget was allocated to purchase brand-new vehicles for high-ranking officials.
The older fleet had become outdated and regularly experienced mechanical failures.”-She said,
“Procurement of these motor vehicles strictly adhered to all the necessary legal procedures, which included comprehensive inspection reports and approval from the Solicitor General.”
“The procurement of these vehicles was carried out through fair and transparent bidding processes and underwent thorough scrutiny by the Ministry of Works and Transport.”
Ssali Used all avenues to recover her seat after meeting with President Museveni who understood how the mafia operates.
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on several occasions, parliamentary committees have been accused of corruption.
Our team confirmed that a huge money exchanged hands to grill Ssali out of the ministry for blocking the mafia from crashing Government cash.
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