State House and Trade Ministry officials face fresh Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee scrutiny, following reports that Agoa employees were drawing double salaries.

During Committee scrutiny of the 2003/04 Auditor General's report on Wednesday, it emerged that although Agoa project was technically under Trade Ministry, State House Comptroller, Mr Richard Muhinda ordered that the Agoa employees be paid allowances equal to that of State House staff.

"State House had no power to instruct another ministry in matters of public funds," Mr Nandala Mafabi (FDC, Budadiri West), the Committee Chairperson said. "This was wrong and it's not even clear whether these Agoa people were not drawing double salaries from both ministries," he added.

Fresh inquiry into the Agoa saga will only serve to remind Ugandans how Tri-Star managers wasted billions of taxpayers' money into a deal that never took off but instead shattered the country's Agoa dream.

Tri-Star Apparels unit in Bugolobi which is also known as Agoa, closed down in October 2006 without any proper explanations with plant's Managing Director, Vellupilai Kananathan assuring the reopening of plant in a month time which never came to pass.

The Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Mr Orone Atipo, told the Committee, "As Trade Ministry, we want to put it clear that we were not in charge of Agoa staff. They were put under our [ministry] but their payment was under State House."