A section of Exim Bank (Uganda) Limited staff have rejected the appointment of a top manager, accusing him of being incompetent and unqualified for the job.
Nitin Shripad Shendye, the Head of Products at Exim Bank is the Manager in question.
According to a Bank of Uganda letter dated June2, 2017 addressed to the Acting Managing Director of Exim Bank obtained by Business Focus, the Central Bank first rejected the appointment of Shendye as Head of Corporate and Retail Banking at Exim Bank after the bank (Exim) failed to produce a confidential report on his performance from his former regulators.
“This is on account that the Reserve Bank of India has informed Bank of Uganda that they no longer provide opinions on performance of officers below the rank of General Manager,” Benedict Ssekabira, the then Director Commercial Banking at BoU wrote.
However, Exim bank employees say, the bank created the ‘Head of Products’ position purposely for Shendye.
This time round, BoU approved his appointment.
A letter dated September 21, 2018 written by Godfrey Yiga Masajja, the Acting Director Commercial Banking at BoU addressed to the Managing Director of Exim Bank reads thus “We here convey Bank of Uganda no objection to the request by Exim Bank (Uganda) Limited to appoint Mr. Nitin Shripad Shendye as Head of Products.”
One of the employees at Exim Bank, who spoke to this site on condition of anonymity alleges that Shendye is “clueless about basic banking principles, the reason senior managers have challenged him.”
The staff add that the bank has several local qualified personnel to fill the position, but the top management insists on Shendye for reasons best known to them.
When contacted for a comment, Caroline Asiimire, the Marketing Communications Manager couldn’t confirm or deny the claims.
“I don’t want to comment [because] I don’t know anything [about Exim staff rejecting Shendye appointment],” Asiimire said in a phone interview.
Commenting on the matter, Kelvin Kizito Kiyingi, the Acting Director, Communications at BoU said: “I am not in position to comment because I have neither seen nor authenticated the documents you claim to have in your position.”
Exim Bank Tanzania entered the Ugandan market in March 2016 by taking over Imperial Bank. In 2017, it recorded a net loss of Shs5.98bn, up from Shs4.1bn loss recorded in 2016.
