President Museveni has appointed Alex Kakooza as the Trade, Industries and Cooperatives caretaker accountant to fill the void left by jailed Permanent Secretary Geraldine Ssali.
The decision comes exactly 10 months to the day Mr Museveni dramatically reinstated Ms Ssali to the same position after she had been sacked by Trade minister Francis Mwebesa.
The minister had moved to replace Ms Ssali with Alfred Andima on the recomendation of Treasury Secretary Ramathan Ggoobi, who acted after MPs had fingered the embattled PS for fraud and other irregularities committed on her watch.
Ms Ssali was on July 18 charged with money laundering, causing the government financial loss and abuse of office when she conspired with MPs to steal money meant for war loss compensation.
She remains on remand in Luzira as she awaits the High Court to set a date for her trial to start.
Incidentally, it is Mr Andima who did the honours of announcing the end of Ms Ssali’s chequered reign at the Ministry of Trade as the Undersecretary summoned staff to a meeting to introduce the new sheriff at the ministry.
Kakooza, a former PS at the Ministry of Education, arrives from the Office of the Vice-President where he has been a principal private secretary.
Ms Ssali is on remand with MPs Micheal Mawanda, Ignatius Wamakuyu, and Paul Akamba.
The other two co-accused are lawyer Julius Kirya Taitankonko and Leonard Kavundira, the principle co-operative officer at the Trade ministry.
Prosecution alleges that Ms Ssali, during the financial year 2021/ 2022 and 2022/ 2023, introduced Buyaka Growers Co-operative Society among those to be compensated by government for the war loss yet it 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 Shs3.868 billion 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 well knowing that her actions will cause government a financial loss because the said payment was in contravention of the Treasury instructions of 2017.
Ms Ssali is further accused of conspiring with Igara East MP Micheal Mawanda, Elgon County MP Iganatius Wamakuyu, Busiki County MP Paul Akamba, lawyer Kirya and Kavundira to defraud the government of Shs3.4 billion which was intended to compensate war victims for Buyaka Growers Co-operative society.
