Ex-PS Ssali, MPs take fresh plea in sh3.8b co-operative funds case
Former Trade Ministry PS Geraldine Ssali and five co-accused have denied fresh charges over the alleged mismanagement of billions of shillings meant to compensate cooperatives for war losses.
Ex-PS Ssali, MPs take fresh plea in sh3.8b co-operative funds case
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The pre-trial hearing for former Trade Ministry Permanent Secretary Geraldine Ssali and several MPs accused of mismanaging sh3.8 billion meant for cooperatives started today, September 9, with the accused taking fresh pleas.
The fresh plea followed a decision by court allowing the prosecution to amend the indictment against the six accused persons.
Ssali is jointly charged with lawyer Julius Kirya, Igara East MP Michael Mawanda Muranga, Elgon County MP Ignatius Wamakuyu Mudiimi, Busiki County MP Paul Akamba and Leonard Kavundira, the Principal Co-operative Officer at the Ministry of Trade.
They face 12 counts, including diversion of public resources, receiving stolen property, money laundering, abuse of office, causing financial loss and conspiracy to defraud.
After Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga of the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court allowed the amended indictment, the charges were formally read to the accused persons, all of whom denied the allegations.
The court allowed the amendments after rejecting defence teams’ assertion that the sh1.2b on count eight was not supported by the prosecution’s case summary and evidence disclosed to the accused.
The defence had argued that the prosecution should not introduce the sh1.2b amount outside the confines of its original case because doing so could prejudice the accused and undermine their right to a fair hearing.
However, the court agreed with Chief State Attorney Edward Muhumuza that the amendments would not prejudice the accused because they were made at an early stage of the proceedings, before witnesses had testified and before the preliminary hearing had been concluded.
“The timing meant the accused would begin the trial with the amended indictment already before them, allowing them to understand the allegations they would be required to defend,” Kajuga observed.
The judge noted that the position could have been different if the trial had already progressed and witnesses had testified, as an amendment at that stage could require witnesses to be recalled.
The court, however, cautioned that should the prosecution introduce new matters during trial, the defence would be entitled to raise an objection on grounds that it had been ambushed.
Allegations
Prosecution alleges that Ssali, during the financial year 2021/2022, in abuse of her authority, irregularly introduced the cooperative society among the cooperatives to be compensated for war loss by the Government, yet it was not listed on the request for the supplementary budget dated August 4, 2021.
According to the prosecution, the arbitrary act is prejudicial to her employer, the trade ministry.
It is further alleged that Ssali, during the financial years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023, made payments to Kirya and Company Advocates amounting to sh3.8b meant for the cooperative society in contravention of the Treasury Instructions of 2017.
Prosecution added that she did this knowing or having reason to believe that such an act would cause financial loss to the Government.
It is alleged that Ssali, together with the five accused persons and others still at large, between 2019 and 2023, conspired to defraud the Government of sh3.4b, which was intended for war loss compensation meant for the society.
On the other hand, Kavundira purportedly influenced and coerced the cooperative society’s chairperson to abandon their advocates, Anguria and Company Advocates, and Mungoma and Wakhakha and Company Advocates in favour of Kirya and Company Advocates for purposes of following up their claim of war loss in the trade ministry.
Prosecution asserts that Kavundira, being a member of the verification committee, which was a parallel committee created by Ssali, had prior knowledge of the claim and what was due to the cooperative society.
Court documents indicate that during the liberation war of 1981 to 1986 and the insurgencies that prevailed in some parts of the country, some cooperative operations and assets were adversely affected, prompting the cooperative unions to seek compensation from the Government.