Shocking details continue to emerge about how commercial banks were sold off by the central bank in Uganda.
The latest we have gathered on the acquisition of seven defunct banks indicates that Nile River Acquisition, a company that is said to have bought Green Land Bank, ICB, Co-operative Bank at 93% discount over their actual Value was actually a ghost company.
Reports indicate, Greenland bank closed in 1999 belonged to Suleiman Kigundu and until his death; he said that his 7 year old bank was closed not for financial reasons.
International Credit Bank (ICB) closure in 1998 was also attributed to connivance by Bank of Uganda according to justice Sebutinde report.
35 year old Cooperative Bank formed in 1964 was closed through unclear circumstances with no report from bank of Uganda.
Evidence at hand reveals that Nile River Acquisition Company which was claimed to be from Mauritius by bank of Uganda officials to parliament, actually has never existed and was a lie to public and to the legislators.
During a search at Uganda Registrations Services Bureau, a government agency which registers all companies by Tom Mugisha a concerned Citizen, it has been established that the company ceased existing in Uganda.
Mugisha was informed that Nile River Acquisition Company is not recorded in the URSB data base.
According to the laws of Uganda, all international companies/investors should be registered locally in Uganda.
BoU officials have on several occasions told the public and the country in particular that the above banks were sold to a genuine company and that it acquired the said banks through rightful channels.
It is said top officials of the central bank, hold huge amounts of money on their personal accounts.
The said money is alleged to have been obtained through the sale of banks which they claim were in distraught yet actually there was no liquidity crisis on those banks.
Interestingly, in the defunct banks, there was no any time where clients complained of failure to withdraw their money including those transacting huge Forex. It is worth noting that Parliament is investigating BoU bosses including Governor, Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile and his deputy Dr. Louis Kasekende over the controversial closure of seven banks.
