COSASE Halts IRA Accountability Over Leadership Dispute, Summons Ggoobi and Former CEO

What the report says

Nile Post reports that Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises, or COSASE, paused its review of the Insurance Regulatory Authority’s 2024/25 accountability on Monday in Kampala after MPs raised questions about the agency’s current leadership and who is legally empowered to account for its funds.

According to the report, IRA officials appeared before the committee under Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Protazio Sande, but the session was halted when legislators queried the basis of his appointment. Committee chairperson Muwadda Nkunyingi said the documents before MPs showed Sande had been appointed by Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi, while the committee’s reading of the IRA Act was that the Minister of Finance should make such an appointment. MPs also said Sande had not shown proof that he had been formally named the authority’s accounting officer.

The committee also expressed concern that former IRA CEO Hajji Ibrahim Lubega Kaddunabbi had reportedly not handed over office despite a board directive. Nile Post says COSASE ordered the IRA delegation to return with the authority’s board, Ggoobi and Kaddunabbi before the audit review continues. The committee wants explanations on both the appointment process and the unresolved handover.

The matter matters because COSASE oversight is part of Parliament’s scrutiny of public bodies’ use of public resources. The committee indicated it would first address the governance dispute before considering IRA’s financial accountability for the 2024/25 financial year.