dfcu Ltd officials in a group photo after the Company’s 60th Annual General Meeting held at Hotel Africana in Kampala
The top management of dfcu bank has assured shareholders of their commitment to defend the bank’s interests in court, after some expressed concerns over the protracted legal battles the bank is tussling out with former Crane Bank owner, Sudhir Ruparelia.
The assurance was made by both Prof. Winifred Tarinyeba, Chairperson Board of Directors of dfcu bank, and Francis Gimara, Independent Non-Executive Director, dfcu Limited during the 60th Annual General Meeting held at Hotel Africanna in Kampala, on 10th July 2025.
“I can give you the greatest assurance that the company is doing its best to ensure that its legal interests are well protected in the London Court. And they are doing so consistently with the laws of both here and as well as in the jurisdiction of United Kingdom,” noted Gimara.
Gimara also explained to the shareholders that the law firms chosen by dfcu Bank to offer legal services went through a pre-qualification process and they remain available to be inspected by the company as and when it is necessary and the lawyer hired to represent dfcu in London are based in the UK and there have been measures put in place to ensure these lawyers aren’t the same lawyers representing Crane Bank.
“The firm that has been instructed is based in London because the matter was filed in a London court. Now, definitely, we also have been able, once in a while, when local expertise is needed by the lawyers in London, we have reached out to some of these lawyers, but we have been very careful that those who are supporting the London case are not conflicted at all. And that, I can assure you, has happened and is consistent with our professional expectation and we always ensure that this matter is handled in the best interest of the company.”
His remarks were in reference to concerns raised by Martin Busulwa Nsereko, a shareholder of dfcu Bank who sought assurance that the lawyers hired to defend dfcu in London, following its takeover of Crane Bank won’t pose conflict of interest, after claiming that some of the members of dfcu Bank’s lawyers were representing Crane Bank.
Nsereko noted, “I want to bring you to page 290, the annual report where you read about Mr. Sudhir Ruparelia as holding 2,175 shares in dfcu, this translate to 0.29% of the shares in this company. I also want to refer you to page 298, where you present 13 companies as our solicitors in this group. I have seen in the newspapers that Sudhir is in court with dfcu and some of these companies that are representing dfcu, they also represent Sudhir in those very cases. Is it a legal gymnastic to defraud the bank or there is really a real case to say so?”
Busulwa also sought clarification on which particular assets and liabilities were taken over by dfcu from Crane Bank noting, We bought Crane Bank. What did we buy from Crane Bank if we did not even have the computer to us as shareholders because, I expected to involve the buildings, the vehicles that Crane Bank was using as it was then. I want the legal department of dfcu to tell us, what did we acquire in Crane Bank?”
Tarinyeba informed the shareholders that following the closure of Crane Bank in 2017, dfcu agreed with Bank of Uganda to allow certain aspects of Crane Bank to be taken over by a healthy bank and during the transaction, dfcu took over certain aspects of Crane Bank, majorly the loan book and certain assets, but the transaction didn’t involve takeover of everything that was owned by Crane Bank.
She explained: “The Central Bank announced that dfcu had taken over some, and I want you to mark the words, some of the assets and some of the identities of Crane Bank. In fact that statement, Bank of Uganda announced, if you had been a depositor in Crane Bank, feel free to go to any of the dfcu branches and any of the dfcu ATMs and access your money. Do you recall? And actually to date, no Crane Bank customer, depositor, lost their money. In banking terms, the bulk of those assets actually constitute the loan book, the bulk of the liabilities constitute depositors’ money.”
Professor Tarinyeba also added, “So, that is the transaction that took place. We also took over some of the branches, and eventually there were problems, we returned those branches, and the money that we had paid for them, had actually been returned to us. Are we clear? As I mentioned, the depositors, nobody has lost their money. Some of the people who had loans, we have continued to work with them. Some have been difficult, and we are in court, and in several other processes involving them. So, that is the issue that took place. We didn’t take everything that belongs to Crane Bank, we took, as was announced to the public, some of the assets and some of the liabilities.”
Gimara also defended dfcu’s decision to maintain businessman Sudhir Ruparelia as a the top individual shareholder of the bank, noting that he acquired his shares legally.
He explained, “Your reference to one of the shareholders that is Sudhir Ruparelia. That is correct. He is a shareholder and he has a right to remain a shareholder, it is consistent with company law, he acquired the shares, just like any other shareholder here.”
During the media interviews, Jimmy Mugerwa, Chairman, dfcu Limited, the holding company that manages the subsidiaries dfcu Bank and the dfcu Foundation, noted that dfcu Bank had a stellar year where it recorded profits and reduced on its debts, which enabled the Bank pay out Shs20 per share to its shareholders.
He explained, “We had a stellar year. We grew profits. We grew the asset base. We reduced our debts and we have paid a dividend higher than last year. We paid a dividend of 20 shillings per share. We also had profits of Shs72Bn and we have regained our position of being one of the top five banks in the country.”
Rebecca Birungi, Acting Chief Financial Officer revealed that in 2024, dfcu bank advanced loans to a tune of Shs1.132Trn, which is higher than Shs1.126Trn loans advanced in 2023, while the Bank’s total assets also grew from Shs3.1Trn in 2023 to Shs3.4Trn in 2024 and the profits after tax also increased from Shs28.7Bn to Shs72.1Bn.
While reacting to the current business environment, Mugerwa noted, “The business environment is tough, as you all know, because it has the global aspects. It has got the economic aspects, it has got some social aspects. So, the business is tough and the only way companies survive in this business is if you have strategies which allow you to be resilient, allow you to adapt, allow you to continue, remain focused on the strategy of giving back to the stakeholders.”
Mugerwa also attributed the growth in profits to the Bank’s decision to focus and aligning its strategies to serve its customers better noting, “We realigned our strategy. We focused on ensuring that we were out there to serve the customers and give them what they need. But in particular, we also lowered our costs, grew the business, and the customers have got interest in us.”
He added, “dfcu is as old as Uganda’s independence. So, you remember in 2024, we celebrated the 60th anniversary, which is the same year that Uganda did. So, we have been around as the country has grown and participated in the economic growth of the country, and we benefit from that and because of that, we have a very strong brand that people trust. Our customers have remained with us, and we continue growing our market share.”
On what the future holds for dfcu, Mugerwa noted, “The future is bright. We are transforming. We are digital. We are attracting the younger people who haven’t been banked. We have got a very strong DFCU Foundation, which is supporting agribusiness. We have very strong shareholders. We are more than paid up as far as capital requirements are concerned. So, we have got a lot of strong pillars which we stand on, which will allow us to propel into the future and even become a bigger bank.”
Commanding a human resource capacity of 1,301 employees in 2024, up from 1,140 in 2023, dfcu indicated that Shs1.2Bn was spent on staff training, while Shs35.8Bn was spent on financial enablement to staff, an increment from Shs34Bn spent in 2024, while Shs88.8Bn was spent on employee benefits, which is a decline from Shs96.7Bn spent in 2023.
According to the financial report, dfcu also spent Shs130Bn on procurement of various goods and services within local companies, which is an increase from Shs120Bn spent in 2023, while the Bank also paid taxes to a tune of Shs100Bn to Government in 2024, up from Shs98.9Bn paid in 2023 and the Bank also spent Shs1.5Bn on Corporate Social Investment, which is higher than Shs1.3Bn spent in 2023 on the same expenditure.
