Africa-Press – Uganda. The former Managing Director of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Mr Richard Byarugaba, has said he will not appeal the court ruling in a case where he had sought to overturn the appointment of his successor, Mr Patrick Ayota.
Mr Byarugaba thanked the High Court for hearing him out as well as the President for appointing him to the position in which he served for 12 years.
“Today [Friday] the High Court delivered their verdict. We have had our day in court. We thank the court for hearing us out. We accept the ruling. We shall NOT appeal the matter,” he wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) page shortly after the ruling.
“We wholeheartedly thank the appointing authority the President @KagutaMuseveni for having given us an opportunity to serve the nation in the capacity of Managing Director of @nssfug for over a decade. We did our best and there is evidence to show that @nssfug progressed considerably during our leadership. We wish the Fund well. Hopefully posterity will judge us accordingly,” he added.
This came hours after the head of the Civil Division of the High Court, Justice Musa Ssekaana, ruled that the appointment of Mr Ayota as the managing director of NSSF was lawfully done by the line minister of the Gender ministry, Ms Betty Amongi.
“The appointment of the 3rd respondent (Mr Ayota) was an act involving the Minister of Labour, and Social Development as the Minister (Betty Amongi) responsible for the affairs of NSSF through reporting and exercising supervisory function after applying her mind to the exercise of power and followed the law as prescribed and should not be interfered with in absence of any justification or any breaches of the law,” Justice Ssekaana ruled.
“This court cannot quash the appointment of the 3rd respondent (Mr Ayota) which resulted from a recommendation of the Board. Such a decision would violate the principle of fairness and would amount to condemning the Board unheard in respect of their decision to appoint the 3rd respondent,” he added.
Mr Byarugaba had been aggrieved by the decision of the Gender minister to refuse to re-appoint him after he was duly recommended by the board.
Speaking to NTV-Uganda on Friday, Ms Amongi said the ruling has given the executive arm of the government victory.
“This has given many other ministers a landmark victory that they will no longer fear to take action when it is within the law because it has reaffirmed the power of the minister when it is granted within the law,” she said.
According to the minister, while Mr Byarugaba made a tremendous mark during his 12-year tenure at the fund, rejecting his reappointment was based on her reasoning.
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