Renowned Ms. Geraldine Ssali, the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Trade and Cooperatives (MTIC) has been summoned together with her team at Police’s Criminal Investigations Directorate to respond to queries related to Shs164b compensation for cooperatives that were affected by past wars.
The cooperatives compensation money has caused investigation to may government officials like the chairman of the Parliamentary budget committee and Clerks and they appeared before the detectives.
PS Ssali is said to have worked on the compensation of cooperatives beneficiaries with his team and are to appear today at the criminal investigations Directorate at Kibuli.
The government gave Shs2.7bn to Bwavumpologoma Growers Cooperatives in november 2021.
When Ms Ssali appeared before the the parliamentary committee on Tourism, Trade and Industry, she insisted that the payments were made before she entered the office of Trade ministry Accounting Officer.
However, the committee members recommended for interdiction of Ms Ssali and other public servants to pave way for smooth investigations.
Yesterday, the CID Detectives interrogated to Kachumbala Legislator Patrick Isiagi Opolot, the chairman of the budget committee and many other Parliament clerks.
Hon Osiagi and the clerks allegedly took the detectives through the parliamentary procedures to pay claimants or handle business in Parliament.
The investigations into the cooperatives compensation started on August 25th 2023 when the speaker Anita Among instructed the parliamentary Committee on Tourism, Trade and Industry to conduct an inquiry into the funds paid to cooperatives between financial year 2011/ 2012 and 2022/2023.
the government was compensating cooperative Societies that had lost funds and property in wars between 1979 and 2006 which led to collapse of some of them.