By Our Reporter
Kampala: So goes the saying that a good dancer is he who knows the point at which to leave the stage. Another one says that even the best dancer leaves the stage. Lest I forget, the most commonly adage is that a good visitor is he who knows when to leave! All the above are true to once very powerful and cobweb-like connected deputy Governor Bank of Uganda (BoU) Dr.Louis Kasekende as his 17 year long experience at BoU comes to a sudden end with little hope of renewal.
Kasekende’s troubles
that could have halted the renewal of his contract could be traced from the many
controversies he found himself engulfed in, among them, the controversial sale
of Dr.Sudhir Ruparelia’s Crane Bank, which was sold on just a telephone call.
Kasekende, the once undisputable
second in command and most powerful giant’s five-year tenure as Deputy Governor
of the BoU finally comes to an end this Friday, January 10, 2020, having begun
his term in this position on January 18, 2010.
Kasekende replaced
David Opio Okello as deputy Governor.
For 17 years, Kasekende has toured and served in several capacities at the Central Bank, including as director of research department, executive director responsible for research and policy and served as deputy governor between 1999 and 2002. He has previously served as a member of the United Nations Group of Eminent Persons for the Least Developed Countries and the World Bank Knowledge Advisory Commission.
Currently, Kasekende is a board member of the African
Export Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK), the International Economics Association (IEA)
and the Africa Economic Research Consortium (AERC). He is also a member of the
National Steering Committee on Capital Markets Development in Uganda.
Kasekende holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Makerere
University, diploma in econometrics, masters of arts and PhD in econometrics
from the University of Manchester. He has authored several articles in academic
journals and books.
As the day comes closer, the question on everyone’s mind is
whether President Yoweri Museveni will extend his tenure or not. And if not,
who will replace him? Speculations have pointed at Makerere University’s Prof. (https://garlandpediatricdental.com/)
Waswa Balunywa, among other candidates.
It should be noted that from May 2006 to 2009,
Kasekende served as chief economist of the African Development Bank (AfDB). As
chief economist, he was the bank’s spokesperson on socio-economic and
development issues of importance for Africa. He supervised the development
research department, the statistics department and the African Development
Institute. Between 2002 and 2004, he served as alternate executive director and
later as executive director at the World Bank for Africa Group 1, which
included 22 countries that were mostly from Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa.
