The Ministry of Trade Permanent Secretary, Geraldine Ssali has said Members of Parliament on the committee on trade, tourism and industry were led on a wild goose chase with claims that the ministry used shs400 million to transport documents from Kampala to Entebbe.
"We have been updating the committee since February 2023 but I don't know whether it disappears in their inboxes or they are given fresh evidence and taken on a wild goose chase. I don't know what is happening but it is clear they are being misled. We used only shs59.3million," Ssali said on Thursday.
"The burden of proof is with that person who alleges. If they can bring a document that proves that I have paid shs400 million to transport documents to Entebbe, I will give you my next salary in full."
The Ministry of Trade was responding to queries by the Parliamentary committee on trade, tourism and industry that is investigation into allegations of inflation of the cost of renovation of the ministry's officers at Farmers' House.
Interfacing the committee early this week, a Principal Assistant Secretary at the ministry, Everest Ahimbisibwe told MPs that the ministry had used shs400 million to transport documents from Kampala to Entebbe, which is a distance of about 50kms.
Commenting about the claim, Ssali insisted that the shs400 million was just an exaggeration, adding that there is no proof of the same amount as was alleged.
To this she said the correct figure of shs59.3 million used for transportation of the documents is what was quoted by the Auditor General in his report and not the alleged shs400 million.
"The Auditor General has cleared us on these allegations. We never transported documents for shs400 million. I can't spend my time fighting with a little monkey in the forest than stick to my work."
Disgruntled officials
The Trade Ministry Permanent Secretary described as disgruntled, Ahimbisibwe, a ministry official he said is currently interdicted to aid in investigations of misconduct at work.
"No one wants to have disciplinary charges against them. He is undergoing a disciplinary hearing and was interdicted. That person( Ahimbisibwe) has a litany of disciplinary cases under investigations including misappropriation of fuel and threatening to kill his colleague. How can someone say they used fuel worth shs7 million in a month? He had turned it into a cash bonanza and an investigation is ongoing," Ssali said.
Inflation of cars, renovation costs
As part of the interface with the committee, another former official, Alfred Lapyem told MPs that the Permanent Secretary purchased old cars for ministers and at an inflated price.
Lapyem said when he raised concern over the inflation, he was kicked out.
Responding to the same, the ministry Permanent Secretary dismissed as untrue the reports, adding that Lapyem was the one behind the inflation which was later aborted.
"The decisions were made for the benefit of the majority and not the individual few. In fact, when I came in, ministers were complaining of using old cars which were always breaking down. When I contacted the head of procurement, ( Lapyem), he said he had already started on the process but realized he was going up and down, left, right and centre,"Ssali said.
"When I asked him, he said the cars come at shs650 million .....he said there was someone who could provide the cars at shs3.2billion. Unfortunately, when I asked, I was told Lapyem had come over the weekend on November, 7, 2021 with the bidders and that he had signed with them. Later one of the bidders came to say he had been kicked out of the process yet he had the lowest bid."
The Ministry of Trade Permanent Secretary said Lapyem had inflated the price of the cars by 14% from shs2.8 billion to sh3.2 billion, making a difference of shs385 million.
"He has gone on to tell MPs that I had inflated the cars but he is the one who had inflated the prices. He came up with a value of shs3.205billion yet the person who was supposed to take the contract was 2.82billion. The difference is shs385billion and make the deal on November, 7, 2023."
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Ssali accused Lapyem of making wild and unfounded allegations, noting that he is jilted for having kicked out of the ministry when he tried to inflate the cost of the cars .
"He was kicked out for working against the main agenda of getting quality for money out of every purchase."
"Whereas there are allegations of the cars being old, they were cleared by an inspection report by the Ministry of Works and every car has status new. The vehicle with the biggest mileage had 105km but this is on account that it was driven from the manufacturer bond to the shipping area. Because this was covid time, the cars had sat in the bond for some time but these are new."
The Ministry of Trade Permanent Secretary also defended the decision to renovate ministry's officers at Farmers' House for shs8 billion than moving away to rent new offices at a cost of shs shs7 billion per year.
