The Bank of Uganda (BoU) Governor Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime- Mutebile has revealed that the Central Bank cannot open any of the seven defunct Banks.
“In principle, I would never dream of opening a Bank that I closed before,” Mutebile said.
He was responding to a question raised by Aruu County MP, Odonga Otto about the possibility of reopening Teffe bank since it was closed illegally.: “What plans do you have to reopen Teffe [Bank]? It is 27years since Teffe was closed and we are crying foul, and we are playing ping pong on the legal framework used to close the Bank,” Otto said.
Mutebile and other BoU officials had appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) on Thursday that is currently carrying out a probe into the closure of the seven defunct banks. A recent special Audit report by the Auditor General, John Muwanga revealed that BoU controversially closed seven banks including Teffe Bank in 1993, International Credit Bank Ltd in 1998, Greenland Bank in 1999, The Co-operative Bank in 1999, National Bank of Commerce in 2012, Global Trust Bank in 2014 and Crane Bank Ltd in 2016.
Otto’s question followed the discovery by the Committee that the then Minister of Finance, Mayanja Nkangi (RIP) had authored a letter on 4th November 1993 ordering for the closure Teffe Bank, despite the legal instruments entrusting such powers in the Central Bank, not the Minister.
“Teffe was closed by Ministry of Finance but the person who put the lock is Bank of Uganda,” Mutebile admitted.
