The chairperson of the parliamentary committee on trade Mwine Mpaka has issued criminal summons against Geraldine Ssali the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade to appear before his committee or face arrest.
Mpaka explained that severally, his committee has been summoning Ssali to appear before the parliamentary committee to explain a number of issues concerning the procurement of vehicles of top ministry officials and renting of the ministry offices where irregularities have been cited.
Appearing before Mpaka’s committee on Monday, Alfred Lapyam the former head of procurement in the ministry of trade revealed that he was fired from his office after challenging the illegal process which was being used to procure five vehicles that were supposed to be used by top officials in the ministry.
He alleges that Ssali turned furious when he told her to first write to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development who is also the Secretary to the Treasury to guide on the deal.
However, she rubbished his advice telling him that she is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and there is no need to write to her counterpart in the ministry of finance explaining because she has the powers to approve the transaction.
He claimed that after being illegally fired and his name deleted from the ministry system, a one Opio, an office attendant in the ministry of trade was given the responsibility of leading the procurement process of the said vehicles.
Lapyam’s testimony was supported by Katerere County legislator Hetwib Katoto who said that the said vehicles price is not Shs600m each as Ssali claims but Shs400m each according to his investigation on Google.
He added that Ssali violated the 2003 standing order that obligates government entities to first get permission from the PS in the Ministry of Finance to purchase vehicles.
Everest Ahimbisibwe, the former Principal Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Trade told the committee that Ssali told them that she wanted them to be procured within the shortest period of time and it is the reason why the deal was removed from Maybach.
The committee also received the report from the Ministry of Works and Transport after inspecting the said vehicles and establishing that they were valued at Shs500m each.
Mpaka also wants Ssali to explain how she used Shs5bn which was allocated to her ministry for renting offices, Shs3bn for fitting and Shs2bn for infrastructure in the event that the ministry shifted to a new building.
Ahimbisibwe told the committee that when President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni appointed Ssali as Permanent Secretary to the ministry trade, she cancelled the rent plan and told them that they should renovate Farmer’s House, a building that houses the ministry right now.
Mpaka said that Ssali paid Shs6.9bn for renovation of the said building even though Shs3.9bn was quoted as the cost for the job.
However, through her twitter handle, Ssali explained that the process of procuring the said vehicles Registration Number UG 0465T manufactured in 2021, mileage 41 KL, UG 0466T manufactured in 2021, mileage 28, UG 0467T manufactured 2020, mileage 105, UG 0468T, manufacture 2020, mileage 75 and UG 0475T, manufactured in 2020, mileage 75 followed the necessary legal procedure which include comprehensive inspection reports and approval from the Solicitor General.
She insisted that the procurement process was carried out through fair and transparent bidding processes and underwent thorough scrutiny by the Ministry of Works and Transport.
She explained that they used Shs2.8bn to purchase the brand new vehicles after the old one had become outdated and regularly experienced mechanical failures.
She added that the Solicitor General further approved the renovation of the Farmer’s House which was in a dilapidated condition and restricted bidding was done to ensure compliance with the PPDA Act and Shs5bn was used on the job.
By Sengooba Alirabaki
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