President Museveni told cabinet on Monday that he will not interfere with the ongoing probe of Bank of Uganda into the sale/closure of seven commercial banks by the Parliamentary Committee on Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE).
Museveni’s revelation, according to sources, came after Matia Kasaija, the minister of Finance, had told cabinet that the probe could affect economic stability since the committee is dealing with a sensitive issue.
Kasaija was reportedly supported by Ruth Nankabirwa, the chief whip, who expressed fear that some of the revelations so far could affect the image and reputation of the central.
But the president reportedly dismissed their fears, revealing for instance that he had advised the central bank to “find an amicable” solution to the problems at Crane Bank and not to close it.
“I told them (the officials) to see if there is a way the bank can be salvaged without it being closed,” Museveni said according to insider sources. “But they did not listen.”
After the president had spoken, sources said that Kasaija and Nankabirwa did not belabour their points and instead chose to keep quiet.
Critics of the decision to close Crane Bank have pointed out before that the bank was closed unfairly, without following due procedure.
In a special audit, the Auditor General faulted BoU for selling off some of Crane Bank’s assets and liabilities when they had the chance to revive it, most especially that BoU claims it spent Shs478.8 billion on the bank during its takeover.
As a result, Crane Bank and Bank of Uganda are in court.
Meanwhile, COSASE’s probe into BoU entered its fifth week and so far some of the revelations have been startling.
For instance it has been discovered that the assets of some of the closed banks were sold on the cheap, while some inventory reports are missing.
Some of the bank’s officials including notably Justine Bagyenda, the former executive director in charge of supervision, have had a hard time explaining why they took the decisions that they did.
