Byarugaba wants court to quash Ayota’s appointment as NSSF boss
Ex-NSSF boss Richard Byarugaba and Labour minister Betty Amongi. PHOTO/COMBO
What you need to know:
- He further contends that the new developments at the Fund are manifestly unlawful, being in contravention of the amended NSSF Act.
Embattled former National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Managing Director Richard Byarugaba has asked court to overturn the August 18 appointment of Patrick Ayota as his replacement.
Byarugaba alleges that Ayota was ineligible for the appointment since “he was holding a substantive statutory position of deputy managing director on a fixed 5-year term.”
Through his lawyers, Byarugaba also wants court to quash the appointment by Labour Minister Betty Amongi on grounds of “Ayota’s ineligibility.”
The sought orders are contained in an application in which Byarugaba is looking for court’s permission to amend his earlier pleadings in which the former NSSF boss challenged Amongi’s decision to reject his re-appointment as well as processes leading to Ayota’s appointment.
On August 9, Byarugaba sued Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka and Amongi, seeking an order “to direct the minister to discharge her statutory duty to complete his re-appointment as recommended by the NSSF board, and as required by law.”
Now, Byarugaba says that sworn statements, in correspondence with his case, contain developments that were not in existence at the time of filing and service of his initial case.
Mr Patrick Ayota, the managing director of NSSF. PHOTO/ISAAC KASAMANI
In the application for amendment, Byarugaba argues that the amendments sought are necessary for determining the real matters in controversy between the parties in the case- and to avoid a multiplicity of cases.
He further contends that the new developments at the Fund are manifestly unlawful, being in contravention of the amended NSSF Act.
“I am in possession of documentary evidence that demonstrates that the purported new appointments were made in a manner whereby the board was not exercising its independent mind as envisaged by the law. Instead, the (NSSF) board was acting under the influence of the second respondent (Minister) and indeed contrary to their own prior written advice to the respondent,” Byarugaba states in the sworn affidavit.
Besides, he wants court to allow him file a supplementary affidavit to adduce evidence and demonstrate that the appointment of Ayota was manifestly illegal, irrational and made with the sole purpose of frustrating his legitimate expectations.
Meanwhile the trial judge Musa Ssekaana set September 22, 2023 for hearing Byarugaba’s application.
