ON THE FIRING LINE: Governor Mutebile and his deputy Kasekende. Bank of Uganda (BoU) closed seven commercial banks during the period 1993 to 2016, mainly on account of undercapitalization. But it was the closure of Crane Bank Limited (CBL) and its subsequent sale in January 2017 that would trigger an audit of BoU on closure of the same defunct banks whose owners now want financial compensation.
However, the controversial sale of CBL at only Shs200 billion to Dfcu bank was the highlight of the processes where BoU closed and sold off assets of the seven banks. CBL sale led to job losses, resignations, transfers and, reputation damage, to mention but just a few, in regards to BoU, Dfcu bank and law firms such as MMKAS Advocates, AF Mpanga, Advocates and Sebalu & Lule Advocates.
The closure of CBL particularly affected certain individuals in BoU, Dfcu bank and the law firms in many ways that have changed public perception about them:
Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile’s image tarnished, loses trust
Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile was first appointed BoU Governor on January 1, 2001. In his tenures he has had issues with Members of Parliament where at one point, the MPs thought he had undermined their legislative role of oversight when he said he only fears God and President Museveni.
But the closure of CBL on October 20, 2016 will always remain the day to remember for Tumusiime-Mutebile as long as he lives. First he assured the public and the media that no employee of former CBL would lose their jobs as he transferred it to Dfcu bank. That assurance never came to pass as a Dfcu bank started laying off the employees a few months after the taking over its former rival. Former employees would later drag BoU and Dfcu bank to court for compensation. And that meant portrayed Tumusiime-Mutebile as a person could not be trusted.
The sale of CBL to Dfcu bank exposed Tumusiime-Mutebile as a bad manager, especially when he and his team claimed to have spent Shs478 billions of taxpayers’ money on CBL in receivership liquidity support yet he could transfer its assets at Only Shs200 billion, sadly BoU failed to account for all the money injected in CBL while in receivership yet at the same time wanted to recover it from CBL shareholders, a calculation MPs on COSASE saw as fraud.
Dr. Louis Kasekende unlikely to be promoted
An established economist and BoU Deputy […]