By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: Firebrand legislator Abdul Katuntu, who is the Member of Parliament for Bugweri county, has attributed the current crisis at Bank of Uganda (BoU) to the in-house fights between camps loyal to governor Prof. Tumusiime Mutebile and deputy governor Louis Kasekende.
Katuntu, the former chairperson for the Committee on State Authorities and Statutory Enterprises (COSASE), was at the forefront of investigations into the closure of the defunct seven commercial banks by BoU and the operations of the Central Bank for the past three decades. Katuntu told parliament this afternoon during a session chaired by Speaker Rebecca Kadaga that currently there are two factions at the central bank; one is led by the governor Mutebile and the other by his deputy Kasekende and that these two camps are viciously fighting each other.
Katuntu revealed this after the state Minister for economic planning David Bahati had presented a statement on the ongoing scandal at Bank of Uganda, which revolves around extra cargo that was flown into the country aboard a plane chartered by BoU and allegations of bank officials printing extra money amounting to Shs90 billion. Minister Bahati told Parliament that “It is true the Bank of Uganda officials who had gone at Entebbe International Airport to receive the printed money, noticed more 5 additional cargo pallets in addition to the 20 known pallets.” However, while giving his reactions, Katuntu cautioned warned of the negative impacts if this fight amongs the factions is not neutralized as soon as possible. He noted that “It may lead to the collapse of the Central bank if issues of governance are not hurriedly handled.” As chair of COSASE, Katuntu led the investigation into the closure of seven commercial banks by the central bank, an investigation that unearthed a lot of rot at the Central Bank.
His committee made several recommendations aimed at improving the performance of the bank although these are yet to be implemented by the Bank officials and Inspectorate of Government. Katuntu also questioned why the United Nations and some tycoons who allegedly had cargo on the BoU chartered plane have since refused, ignored or neglected to issue statements about their cargo and why they had to use a plane chartered by BoU. In her concluding remarks, Speaker Kadaga gave the executive until July 15, 2019 to avail parliament with a preliminary report about investigation into BoU scandal for further deliberations by the House.
