A new report has revealed the shocking rot at the Bank of Uganda, the country’s Central Bank.
The Report of the Presidential Tripartite Committee Investigating the Bank of Uganda that was instituted by President Yoweri Museveni shows that the Central Bank has a lot of governance issues.
Museveni instituted the Committee following queries regarding the 7th February 2018 BoU staff reshuffles. The 10-member Committee was headed by Abdu Katuntu as Chairperson and had members like IGG Lady Justice Irene Mulyagonja and Keith Muhakanizi (BoU Board Member) among others
On the said date, BoU Governor Prof Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile issued an internal memo via which he communicated a number of staff transfers and appointments.
By way of the said memo, he communicated a number of internal staff transfers as well as promotions. In the same memo, the Governor further communicated the appointment of five staff from outside the Bank to various positions including the appointment of Dr. Twinemanzi Tumubweine as BoU’s Executive Director Supervision, replacing Justine Bagyenda, who was accused of irregularly doing her supervisory role.
However, according to the report leaked to this site, most of the transfers and appointments were done by Mutebile himself in disregard of the law.
The report reveals that Tumubweine wasn’t qualified for the job because he got a Pass Degree in his first degree.
According to Tumubweine’s personal profile at the Bank of Ugnada, he holds the following academic qualifications; PhD in Economics from the University of Texas in Dallas, USA (2009), Master of Science degree in economics from the University of Texas in Dallas, USA (2009), Master of Science Degree in Management and Administrative Sciences from the University of Texas in Dallas, USA (2004) and Bachelor of Science Degree in Statistics and Applied Economics from Makerere University (January 1996).
“When Dr. Tumubweine’s academic qualifications were considered alongside the prescribed requirements stipulated by policy in the Administration Manual, it was established that his first degree was a Pass degree,” the report reads in part.
It adds: “It therefore fell below the standard requirement of 1st class or second Upper Honours and also below the standard set for exceptional circumstances which is lower Second Honours Degree. It is also pertinent to note that Dr. Twinemanzi lacked experience in commercial banking as stipulated in the job description for the Executive Director Supervision. There was no mention of any working experience relevant to commercial banking in his personal records at the Bank.”
The report says that Tumubweine informed the Committee that he was headhunted and that the Governor requested him to express interest in the job.
He claimed that his interaction with the Governor started in 2017 during the activities of the Financial Markets Development Committee of the Bank of Uganda. He explained that he attended the said committee as a stakeholder representing Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) where he was previously employed.
The report says that Tumubweine claimed that his PhD dissertation under the title ‘Interest Spread and Emergency Setting Behaviour of Commercial Banks: Evidence from Uganda” in 2008 interested Mutebile and asked him about it.
As a result, Twinemanzi wrote to the Governor on 2nd October 2017 expressing specific interest in joining Banking Supervision Directorate of the BoU.
The Governor wrote back on 9th February offering him the job which he accepted on 14th February 2018.
Prior to that, the report adds, he was instructed by the Governor to go to speak to certain people.
When pressed to reveal the persons to speak to, “he steadfastly refused to disclose the identities of the said persons and referred the Committee back to the Governor.”
“It was therefore interesting that whereas virtually the whole Bank appeared to be in the dark about the decision of the Governor prior to 7th February 2018, there seemed to be persons outside the Bank influencing the course of events if Dr. Tumubweine’s statement is to be believed,” says the report.
Camps within BoU
The report adds that the investigations exposed to the Committee the extent to which there was polarization among BoU staff based upon loyalties to either the Governor or the Deputy Governor (Dr. Louis Kasekende) and not necessarily to the institution’s governing principles and policies.
However, the report adds there was no evidence to suggest that the two principals had a hand in the formation of the cliques.
One of the BoU staff told the Committee: “… camps are there and have come out of mistrust between the Principals thinking that one undermines the other.”
We’ll keep you updated with more shocking details from the report
