The Head of Public Service and Secretary to Treasury, Lucy Mbonye Nakyobe, has ordered the reinstatement of Geraldine Ssali as the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Trade.
She said the directive was issued by President Museveni on 22nd October 2023.10.27
“This is to request you to immediately reinstate Ms. Geraldine Ssali Busuulwa as the Accounting Officer of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives as per the president’s directive,” Nakyoobe’s letter reads in part.
It is understood that President Museveni ordered the return of Ssali last Sunday, October 22, about a fortnight after she was thrown out as the Trade Ministry Accounting Officer, by Ggoobi, the Finance Ministry PSST.

On Thursday, October 5, 2023, Minister of Trade Francis Mwebesa asked to recommend an officer to carry out the duties of the ministry’s accounting office in the absence of Ssali.
“The purpose of this letter is to request that you, as the supervising political head of the Ministry of Trade, recommend an officer to carry out the duties of the accounting officer as allegations against Ssali and others are being investigated,” the letter read.
Ssali was then ousted from office and replaced by Under Secretary Oyo Andima, as per the directive of Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi. This decision was made due to allegations of mismanagement against Ssali, prompting Ggoobi to appoint a new accounting officer.
“Parliament carried out an investigation into the activities of the Ministry of Trade and made recommendations among others that this ministry should ensure going forward, accountability is guaranteed. I therefore went ahead with guidance of my technical people to kick start the process of implementing the recommendation of parliament and it is what we did,” Ggoobi said.
An investigation by Parliament’s Committee on Trade, Tourism, and Industry committee, headed by Mwine Mpaka, said that Ssali irregularly utilized Shs. 5 billion that was meant to rent new premises as renovations of the ministry’s offices went on.