By Ronald Nahabwe
There was drama at Parliament on Thursday as the governor of Bank of Uganda Prof.Emmanuel Mutebile appeared before Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) to answer queries of loss of property during the closure of seven commercial banks, when he first refused to take oath.
Governor Mutebile had snubbed COSASE committee three times until the chairman Mubarak Munyagwa issued summons for him to appear personally without any representation and when he appeared he seemed not to be interested in the raised queries.
Before he started answering questions asked by the committee chaired by Munyagwa, Mutebile was asked to first be put on oath which he at first rejected, but later accepted after being presses against the wall by legislators, until his legal team advised him to take the oath or face arrest.
COSASE had to resume investigations into the loss of properties by some individuals during the closure of seven commercial banks because city business man Chris Tusabe Karobwa petitioned the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, saying that the probe ended without him and several others receiving justice.
Kadaga then directed the Committee to conduct proceedings on issues that were not concluded. In a letter dated 26 July 2019, Kadaga wrote to Munyagwa to consider the appeal of Karobwa who alleges that the Central Bank mismanaged issues of the Cooperative Bank in receivership.
The banks that were closed between 1993 and 2016 include Teefe Trust Bank, International Credit Bank, Cooperative Bank, Greenland Bank, Global Trust Bank Uganda, National Bank of Commerce and Crane Bank Limited.
The third attempt by the committee to interface with the Governor on Wednesday, 21 August 2019 was futile, and the legislators expressed frustrations, saying that he is stiffling their work.
Committee Chairperson, Munyagwa (FDC, Kawempe Division South) issued summons for the Governor to appear on 29 August 2019.
In February this year, COSASE under the leadership of Hon. Abdu Katuntu (FDC, Bugweri County) concluded the probe on BOU in which the Central Bank was accused of violating financial procedures in the closure of the banks.
Katuntu presented a report on the probe, which among other issues demanded action against culprits, proposed changes in BOU and also noted the inadequate accountability on Shs478 billion BOU invested in Crane Bank Limited before it was sold to DFCU Bank at Shs200 billion in 2016..
While meeting the committee on Wednesday, 21 August 2019, Karobwa said that his attempts to engage BOU for the past 20 years have not been successful.
“In February this year, BOU was directed by the Katuntu Committee to give me a hearing but they openly defied this directive and rudely frustrated my other efforts to meet them,” Tusabe Karobwa said.
