By Spy Uganda
Celebrated folk pop (Kadongokamu) singer Sir Mathias Walukagga has released a song in which he blasts officials of Bank of Uganda for allegedly indulging in corruption with impunity.
In the same song titled ‘Akanyomonyomo’, Walukagga also hails city businessman Dr Sudhir Ruparelia for standing strong in the face of the Mafia at BoU and fighting them ever since they grabbed and sold his Crane Bank to dfcu Bank.
Spies who have keenly listened to the song reveal that Walukagga warns against impunity and complacency whereby he lambasted BoU management, its advisors and lawyers for not learning from their past mistakes, but instead repeating the errors every year.
After spitting fire at the BoU officials, Walukagga hailed Dr. Sudhir for being a resilient and hard-working man, plus holding out with Crane Bank-related woes even after his bank was fraudulently closed by Bank of Uganda (BoU) and later sold to dfcu with no Minutes of sale, or following due diligence of winding down a company.
He argued that it was complacency ‘Akanyomonyomo’ that partly led BoU bosses into problems.
He likened them to mourners who take advantage of the darkness of the night to engage in reckless sex, yet the deceased they are mourning died because of HIV/AIDS resulting from reckless sexual conduct.
He also indirectly referred to the losses and disrepute Sudhir endured because of the BoU decisions, by using an example of a woman who can’t easily let go of her child because of the extreme labor pains she endures to bring him or her to life.
Walukagga also used a metaphor of a vessel that carried slaves, packed breathless in the dark of the containers then the crew sat on top of the vessel enjoying chicken and beers.
The slaves cried out loud asking their masters for some food in vain. They then used nails and a hammer and dug holes into the vessel which started filling with water and in a minute, the ship sunk.
Analysts however reveal that the song is a wakeup call to citizens, government, Parliament and Courts to fight the corruption and impunity exhibited by current and former BoU officials, among them Dr. Louis Kasekende, lawyers Mpanga and Timothy Masembe, former director Supervision Justine Bagyenda, Margret Kasule, Jimmy Mugerwa and others.
It should be noted that trouble for BoU started on January 25, 2017, when the BoU officials placed Crane Bank under the receivership, before selling it to dfcu Bank.
Later that same year, Bou, alongside Crane Bank sued Dr Sudhir and his Meera Investments Company for allegedly fleecing his own bank of Shs397Bn in fraudulent transactions.
However, Sudhir denied the allegations and counter-sued BoU, seeking compensation of $8m (Shs28b) in damages for breach of contract.
In August, 2019, the Commercial Court in Kampala dismissed a multibillion commercial dispute that had been filed against tycoon Sudhir related to Crane Bank in receivership, ending a two-year legal battle.
The Court ruled that BOU had no merit in the csse, because they couldn’t use “Crane Bank in receivership” to sue; that there was no cause of action to sue Sudhir, that BOU receivership of CB ended when they sold to dfcu Bank, and that the freehold in CB branches belongs to Sudhir and BOU should pay costs of the suit.
However, Mr. Sudhir maintained his bank was fraudulently taken by BoU and subsequently given away to Dfcu bank.
This was proved by the Commercial which also ruled that dfcu Bank erroneously took over 49 properties from Meera Investments Limited, which were initially being leased by Crane Bank to houses its branches.
Following the following, dfcu Bank officials rescinded a contract they had signed with BoU officials to buy out the 49 properties and has since started locating branches it had installed in Sudhir’s buildings.
