Cabinet backs Suruma against firing NSSF bosses

Grace Matsiko & Emmanuel Gyezaho

Kampala

The Cabinet has upheld Finance Minister Ezra Suruma’s decision not to heed a directive by Vice President Gilbert Bukenya to have the National Social Security Fund board suspended and its top two managers sent on forced leave.

 

The latest Cabinet position is a major departure from recommendations of a sub-committee in the Cabinet chaired by Prof. Bukenya which met over the matter on September 27 and ordered Dr Suruma to suspend the board chaired by Mr Edward Gaamuwa, NSSF Managing Director David Chandi Jamwa and his deputy, Prof. Mondo Kagonyera.

Dr Suruma told Saturday Monitor on Wednesday that he was justified in disregarding the Cabinet sub-committee’s recommendation.

“The sub-committee was set up by the Prime Minister to speak to the workers and the objective was to dissuade them from organising a strike,” said Dr Suruma. “I couldn’t take such a decision [to disband the board] because it would be contrary to the Cabinet’s position [of September 27] on the matter.”

Dr Suruma said the Cabinet had only recommended that Prof. Bukenya’s committee speaks to the workers’ representatives to avert the planned demonstrations and had also objected to the Finance Minister’s own desire to send the fund’s top managers on forced leave, in further justifying his decision to disregard the sub-committee’s recommendation.

And while he declined to divulge specifics of Wednesday’s sitting of the Cabinet, Saturday Monitor established on Thursday that the Cabinet backed his decision not to fire the NSSF bosses over how they handled the purchase of land from a company owned by the Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and businessman Amos Nzeyi.

The two men sold more than 400 acres of land to the NSSF at a cost of Shs11 billion in a deal that Parliament is currently investigating to establish, among others, whether Mr Mbabazi had peddled his influence to clinch the deal.

Ms Irene Kabole, the vice chairperson of NOTU, the workers’ umbrella body which has since postponed its planned demonstrations, told Saturday Monitor on Thursday that the trade union was “not comfortable” with Dr Suruma’s decision to disregard Prof. Bukenya committee recommendation, and warned: “If the worst comes to the worst, we will organise demonstrations and then strikes”.

She, however, said the body was still confident that Prof. Bukenya’s directive would be honoured. “In the meetings, we had with the vice president, we were assured that our demands would be met,” said Ms Kabole. “Prof. Bukenya chaired the Cabinet that day [Wednesday last week] and he was in charge; he was the President so I don’t think his directives will be defied.”  Prof. Bukenya also chaired this Wednesday’s meeting.

The worker’s body has led calls for the disbandment of the NSSF board and the sacking of its managers since news broke of the Temangalo land deal on August 13. But the position to disregard Prof. Bukenya’s directive will only show how divided the Cabinet has become in the wake of inquest into the deal.

Local Government Minister Kahinda Otafiire has publicly come out to criticise Mr Mbabazi for his involvement in the deal.

“A consensus was reached in Cabinet that this was not the time to cause suspension of NSSF officials when inquiries are ongoing,” said a senior minister who did not want to be named because he is bound by regulations not to disclose proceedings of Cabinet meetings.  

According to the minister, there is fear in Cabinet that by suspending the officials, the action will vindicate claims of alleged culpability of the officials involved in the transaction, and would “open the flood gate of calls for others like Mbabazi and Suruma to follow suit”.

The minister added that Cabinet agreed that “Prof. Bukenya acted in the heat of pressure from the workers and only wanted to show that the government was concerned and was ready to do all it can to prevent riots on the streets”. Last week, Prof. Bukenya wrote to Dr Suruma directing him to suspend the NSSF officials over the land purchase, currently under investigation by Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, State Enterprises and Statutory Authorities.

Defying the directive, Dr Suruma wrote to the vice president days later saying he could not disband the Fund’s board and send its managers on forced leave until the parliamentary probe is concluded.

Shocked by the Finance Minister’s open defiance, Prof. Bukenya wrote back to Dr Suruma on Saturday and said, “I will hold you personally answerable to the consequences that may arise out of your refusal to act as directed.”

Asked to comment on the implications of his defiance, Dr Suruma said, “I think that’s not for me to comment on.” However, a Cabinet source said Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi “privately” spoke to Prof. Bukenya about the incident and “counselled him about the mishap”. Prof. Nsibambi declined to comment on Wednesday, only saying, “I have no comment.”