Outgoing ethics boss Okello accused of irregularly firing accountant

KAMPALA - Directorate of Ethics and Integrity outgoing accounting officer Alex Okello has found himself in the hot seat.

This was after revelations that he allegedly sidelined Washington Musamali, the principal accountant and head of accounts, at a critical moment when the 2023/24 Financial Year audit report was being compiled.

The matter came to light during a heated Public Accounts Committee (PAC) session, chaired by Goretti Namugga (Mawogola South, NUP), on March 6, 2025.

MPs grilled Okello over the Auditor General’s (AG) findings, which flagged the irregular diversion of shillings 201.37 million to unauthorised activities, which violated Treasury instructions and potentially hampered service delivery.

While Okello admitted attending exit meetings with Auditor General officials, he defended the expenditure shift as being partly caused by failure to provide adequate budget lines to planned activities among many other factors.

However, under a barrage of questions from MPs, Okello turned to Musamali for answers on the missing trial balance. Much as he told lawmakers that he had managed to extract the document from the system, Musamali said he was not in charge during the year under review.

“I was requested by the accounting officer to step aside so that my accountant can take on the role of the head of accounts. So, for all that time, my office has been non-functional, but I have been in office. So, I think he is the best person to answer for this financial year. I am just coming back to this function in two weeks,” he said. 

His submission briefly sparked a back-and-forth, with Okello insisting Musamali couldn’t evade blame, since he played a pivotal role for most of the year, although he was later asked to step aside in January 2024.

At this point, the accountant in question, Julius Mandu, stepped forward. However, Okello feigned ignorance, claiming he had merely been informed of the move by the finance ministry and had no role in it.

Sacked without a letter

When pressed for an authorisation letter, he failed to produce one, insisting that the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST) Ramathan Ggoobi had not provided him with any formal documentation.

“The mode in public service is that everything is purely in writing. You cannot get an instruction on the phone. You must have evidence because remember it is a commitment. You are assigning someone to handle finances of an entity and for you to change passwords on Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS) for the incoming one, there must be something permitting this person to be held accountable for whatever he is doing,” Namugga wondered.

In response, Okello claimed he had held discussions with Ggoobi, during which it was agreed that the Accountant General would be instructed to ask Musamali to step aside.

However, before he received official written directives, he was taken by surprise to see Musamali voluntarily throwing in the towel. 

“I only saw the head of accounts handing over office to the accountant. I asked my accountant, have you been given the letter, he told me no. I asked the outgoing head of accounts, but he did not show me any letter and he stepped aside,” Okello retorted, prompting bouts of laughter from MPs.

However, Musamali swiftly dispelled Okello's claims. Instead, he explained that he was made redundant.

“The only issue that happened is that the accounting officer substituted my functions to my junior. My junior was also happy to exercise those functions, preparing maybe to also be promoted to those ranks and I didn’t want to cause problems. I just remained in my office, I would come and sit there,” Musamali clarified.

Adding that “because majorly our functions are done on the system, he (Okello) wrote to the Permanent Secretary/ Secretary to the Treasury and said ‘I want the other one out of the system.’ Then I was also exited from the supervision of the cash office. So, I remained redundant. I decided to sit in the office, and handle other things as they come like that. When he was transferred away, the new team said no, we need a senior person in this position, he (Mandu) can’t continue holding it. That’s why I was restored.”

Fallout

Okello, who was first appointed as an accounting officer in government 29 years ago, has spent 15 years at the Directorate of Ethics and Integrity. In contrast, Musamali joined the directorate in April 2020.

However, Okello maintains that their fallout is not driven by personal vendetta, but rather by a failure to meet professional standards.

“I have never had any problem in that directorate. I do not have any fight with anybody throughout my service, including this time. But I have a declared fight for people who don’t follow instructions and do the right things. All my staff here bear me witness, if anybody does anything wrong, I will call the person and say this I cannot accept,” he alluded.

Adding that “when Musamali came, there were quite a number of things that he was doing which were out of procedure, which do not follow financial instructions. Obviously, I had a disagreement on those.”

Commenting on the matter, Harriet Tumuhaire, the principal human resource manager, stated ‘nothing has been written that has come to my attention. But also, what I may add is that any advice to the accounting officer is given upon request.”

As this went, Dunstan Balaba the entity’s new accounting officer watched on in awe.

MPs respond

However, for some lawmakers, including Sarah Opendi (Tororo District Woman MP, NRM), this did not come as a surprise. Opendi stated that such scenarios highlight why the directorate and the agencies it supervises have failed in the fight against corruption.

“There may be a challenge with some of the people in this directorate who have turned this into also a place where everybody is eating,” Opendi said.

“…. When you look at what the IGG’s office is doing today compared to what the IGG was then when some of us worked there, things have completely changed. And now it is more of a political office that you must seek for permission to investigate some people,” she added.  

The committee almost hit a snag, with some MPs arguing that it was improper to discuss financial statements signed by Mandu, who they believed was impersonating.

“We are doubting and questioning the integrity of documents before us, how do we then proceed?”  Silas Aogon posed.

Others argued that they proceed with the discussion and include their concerns in the report's recommendations.