Refund Ugx 5Bn or Face Jail-IGG to Byarugaba

186
Betty Kamya, the IGG
Mrs. Betty Kamya, the Inspector General of Government. Courtesy photo

The Inspector General of Government (IGG) has on Friday, June 30, 2023, ordered the former National Social Security Fund (NSSF) boss, Richard Byarugaba together with the Director Finance, Stephen Mwanje to refund Five Billion shillings (Ugx 5Bn) lost by the Fund due to mismanagement.

The IGG Betty Kamya while releasing the report from an investigation into the purported allegations of corruption and mismanagement of NSSF said that, the two irregularly authorized payment of Ugx 4.4Bn to a member of staff who exited under early retirement.

She said that Byarugaba also engineered resignation of two board members, a move that caused the Fund over Ugx 600M.

Richard Byarugaba
Richard Byarugaba, the Former Executive Director of NSSF. Courtesy photo

According to Kamya, the two Fund officials should refund the said money or face prosecution, though only two out of 25 accounts investigated by the Inspectorate implicated Byarugaba.

However, Kamya added that despite all this, Byarugaba is credited for registering tremendous growth during his tenure at the NSSF.

“We recommended that he refunds the money. The losses were direct under his docket. We do not recommend prosecution, but we recommend that he refunds the money. And if he does not, then he will be prosecuted. Incidentally, in the main report, we have also recommended some people whom we shall refer to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for prosecution,” Kamya said.

At the beginning of 2023, the IGG decided to carry out investigations in to the NSSF Executive Director, Richard Byarugaba case of abuse of office as accused by the Minister of Gender, Labor and Social Development, Betty Amongi.