The Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court has put on hold the corruption trial involving former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC), Geraldine Ssali Busuulwa, and her co-accused until July 30 as it awaits a ruling from the Constitutional Court.
Ssali and Edgar Kavundira, the Principal Cooperative Officer in MTIC, are among several individuals facing corruption-related charges arising from the alleged mismanagement of Shs3.8 billion earmarked for compensation to Buyaka Growers Cooperative Society Ltd in Bulambuli District.
The two appeared before Justice Jane Akuo Kajuga on Friday for the mention of their case. However, the judge halted further proceedings pending the Constitutional Court’s determination of a petition filed by Busiki County Member of Parliament (MP) Paul Akamba, one of the accused persons in the case.
Akamba is challenging the legality of his trial, arguing that he was subjected to torture by security operatives during his arrest. He is seeking to have the charges against him dismissed on those grounds.
Other accused persons in the case include lawyer Julius Kirya of Kirya & Co Advocates, Igara East MP Michael Mawanda, and Elgon County MP Ignatius Wamakuyu Mudimi.
Ssali and Kavundira are additionally charged with abuse of office and causing financial loss to the government. The legislators face charges related to receiving stolen property and the diversion of public resources, while Kirya is accused of stealing by agent and money laundering.
According to court records, Mawanda allegedly received Shs1 billion in 2021, which prosecutors claim he used to pay creditors of Buyaka Growers Cooperative Society. He is further accused of receiving an additional Shs200 million to settle a debt arising from Commercial Division High Court Civil Case No. 28 of 2020.
The prosecution alleges that during the 2021/22 financial year, Ssali abused her authority by irregularly including Buyaka Growers Cooperative Society among the cooperatives earmarked for government war-loss compensation, despite the cooperative not appearing in the supplementary budget request dated August 4, 2021.
Prosecutors contend that the decision was arbitrary and prejudicial to the interests of her employer, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.
The State further alleges that during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years, Ssali authorised payments totalling Shs3.8 billion to Kirya & Co Advocates on behalf of Buyaka Growers Cooperative Society in contravention of the Treasury Instructions, 2017.
According to the prosecution, Ssali knew, or had reason to believe, that her actions would result in financial loss to the government.
The prosecution also alleges that between 2019 and 2023, Ssali, together with the other accused persons and others still at large, conspired to defraud the Government of Uganda of Shs3.4 billion intended as war-loss compensation for Buyaka Growers Cooperative Society.
Kavundira, meanwhile, is accused of influencing and coercing the chairperson of Buyaka Growers Cooperative Society to terminate its working relationship with its duly appointed legal representatives, Anguria & Co Advocates, in favour of Kirya & Co Advocates for purposes of pursuing the compensation claim before the ministry.
Prosecutors further contend that Kavundira, who served on the ministry’s verification committee, had prior knowledge of the compensation claim and the amounts due to Buyaka Growers Cooperative Society. The prosecution also alleges that the verification committee was a separate body irregularly established by Ssali.
In the 2016/17 financial year, the government established an inter-ministerial committee led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives to verify compensation claims by cooperative societies for assets and property destroyed during past wars and political insurgencies.
Before the committee’s establishment, such claims were handled by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, which paid a total of Shs6.97 billion to various cooperative societies and unions.
Between the 2016/17 and 2022/23 financial years, compensation payments amounting to Shs137.86 billion were processed through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.
