Trade Minister Francis Mwebesa expressed frustration over prolonged traffic delays after surrendering his official car for the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and G77+China summits scheduled for this month in Kampala. Mwebesa apologized to the parliamentary committee on trade, citing the government’s withdrawal of vehicles, including those of officials, for the transportation of delegates during the conferences.
In December, the government initiated the withdrawal of vehicles, impacting ministers and permanent secretaries, to facilitate the transportation of delegates to and from the venues for the NAM and G77+China summits. The NAM summit is set to take place from January 15 to 20 at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort Hotel, followed by the G77+China summit from January 20 to 23.
Despite Mwebesa’s apology for arriving late at the parliamentary committee, chaired by Mbarara South MP Mwine Mpaka, he and his technical team were asked to leave. Mpaka explained that the committee took such action because the accounting officer, Geraldine Ssali, was found to be involved in abuse of office during their investigations.
The committee accused Ssali of irregularly utilizing a supplementary budget of shillings 5 billion allocated to the trade ministry in the 2021/22 financial year, intended for renting a new facility. Parliament recommended Ssali’s interdiction and prosecution on August 31, 2023, for allegedly inflating the cost of renovating and renting Farmers’ House. Although she was dropped on October 3, 2023, by the permanent secretary of the finance ministry, Ramathan Ggoobi, President Yoweri Museveni later ordered her immediate reinstatement in the same month through a directive communicated by the head of Public Service, Lucy Nakyobe.
