KAMPALA – Ms Geraldine Ssali – the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives will be returned to court on Friday after spending a night behind bars.
Ssali who was arrested on Thursday on accusations of corruption and misuse of office will formally be charged with several counts of corruption-related charges.
After several hours of interrogation, the suspect was arraigned before the Anti-Corruption Court before the prosecution sought to amend the charges which the court accepted.
According to the prosecution, Ssali caused financial loss to the government when she irregularly introduced Buyaka Growers Cooperative Society Ltd among the cooperatives to be compensated for war loss. Buyaka Growers was initially not among those to benefit in the supplementary budget dated August 4, -2021.
The accounting officer is accused of conniving with Micheal Mawanda – Igara East Constituency legislator in Bushenyi District, Ignatius Wamakuyu Mudimi of Elgon County in Bulambuli District, Paul Akamba Busiki County in Namutumba District, and city lawyer Julius Kirya of Kirya Company Advocates (all of whom in prison) for allegedly diverting Shs3.4 billion meant for war loss compensation by the government to Buyaka Growers Cooperative Society.
