NSSF saga: Byarugaba quizzed over Lubowa housing project

The committee led by Mbarara City South MP, Mwine Mpaka, probed NSSF’s expensive idle housing unit project at Lubowa worth $62m constructed to attract high net worth Individuals.

The committee said the project is supposed to have 2700 lifestyle complex housing units but only 303 units are complete with no demand for them yet each house cost sh3b.

In response, Byarugaba said the houses will be occupied, noting that even a similar project was done in Mbuya and all houses are now occupied.

He also clarified that by the time he left the Fund, 15 houses were bought contrary to the information the committee indicating that only four were bought.

The NSSF crisis came to light when Byarugaba ‘s contract was not renewed amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

The Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Betty Amongi, came out and directed Byarugaba to retire since her had reached retirement age.

In a July 22 2022 letter, Amongi who is the co-political overseer of the Fund alongside her finance counterpart Matia Kasaija, noted that under the Public Service Standing Order and NSSF Human Resource Policy, Byarugaba, like his deputy Patrick Ayota did, should have automatically retired on clocking 60 years.

President Museveni has since given a directive to have the public savings entity investigated over allegations of corruption and mismanagement.