The Former Managing Director of the National Social Security Funds, Prof. Mondo Kagonyera has blamed the failure of NSSF to follow the right procedures in procuring 60 cars worth over 30 billion shillings on the heads of the procurement committee, contracts committee of NSSF who were directly in charge of the purchase of the cars.
Prof. Mondo Kagonyera before the committe (NV photo)
The deal was first advertised as car leasing by NSSF to hire purchase after it was awarded to Nissan but the NSSF went on to conduct an outright purchase without re- advertising the deal.
Kagonyera has told the Parliamentary Committee on Commissions of Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises that it is true the procurement procedures were flouted but it was the heads of the Procumbent departments and that of the Contracts committee that were responsible for this financial irregularity. He says it was not the role of the top management to interfere in such financial transactions even when flawed.
This follows a presentation by Edgar Agaba, the Executive Director of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets who blamed the two former NSSF bosses Kangonyera and boss David Chandi Jamwa for flouting several procurement procedures and guidelines.
But Kagonyera who is also the current Chancellor of Makerere University says the role of ensuring that procurement procedures should have been followed in the purchase of the cars lay with the Internal Auditor of NSSF.
Kagonyera says top management was not even allowed to interfere in the financial transactions of the Contracts committee and which curtailed their ability to stop the car deal even when in the purchase of cars the right procurement procedures were flouted.
There is an investigation in this committee in relation to the forensic report of 2005- 2008 on NSSF of the Auditor General which implicates a number of former NSSF officials.