Major shareholders of DFCU Bank are involved in strong disagreements over the appointment of the new Managing Director who can put back the bank’s business on track, Eagle Online understands.
Insider sources indicate that there two camps created among the shareholders, one led by board chairman Elly Karuhanga insisting on current MD Juma Kisaame and the other camp-mainly led by 58.71 majority shareholder Arise BV and Britain’s CDC Group in favouring William Ssekabembe who they think can turn around the fortunes of the bank whose current problems seem to have emerged from the controversial purchase of Crane Bank in January 2017.
Meanwhile an insider said Kasaame is against Ssekabembe becoming replacing him as MD, the two men having clashed some time back in South Africa as they went to explain to their bosses the controversial purchase of Crane Bank.
It is said Kisaame wanted Ssekabembe to explain the Crane Bank deal to Arise BV investors and other shareholders but the latter refused, insisting that the former was the right executive to do the explanation job. To Kisaame, understood Ssekabembe’s refuse to obey his request to explain the deal to their bosses in South Africa as a betrayal.
Kisaame, it is said, has reached out to Fiabian Kasi MD, Centenary Rural Development Bank and others to replace him, but they have refused to take up the job, probably because of the controversy that is going on at DFCU.
It is said Kisaame is inquired from the Bank of Uganda (BoU)Deputy Governor Dr Louise Kasekende on who is the best to replace him.
Further it is alleged that Kisaame took a cut of Shs2 billion as DFCU paid Bank of Uganda Shs90 billion DFCU of the Shs200 billion that the bank is meant to pay the central bank in the Crane Bank transaction. It is said Kisaame refused to share that money with his associates at DFCU, and instead used all of it to clear the loan he had taken from the Uganda Development Bank (UDB). The Shs2 billion was the 1 per cent that was given to him and others as bonus for the job well done.
Yesterday Eagle Online reported that Dfcu was lured by top bosses at BoU to takeover Crane Bank is in the storm that business analyst can best describe as trying moment for the 3rd largest bank. Dfcu became 3rd after it took over Crane bank thereby growing its customer base and an increase on asserts.
another issue at hand is that allegation that BoU Deputy Governor, Louis Kasekende is reported to have taken sides in the storm favouring Kisaame against Ssekabembe. Kasekende is said to have been the one who prevailed on Kisaame not to leave. both men are buddies having transacted the Crane bank together.
Eagle Online has however, learnt from sources that bickering over deals and money is at the centre of the current storm facing the bank.
This website has learnt that about a week ago, the shareholders of Dfcu bank summoned a meeting in South Africa where all of them attended including the Managing Director and the board chairperson attended. It is alleged that during the said meeting, the shareholders started accusing each other over their involvement in deals without the knowledge others. The deals at stake are said to be earning of commission from big loans by a section of them without necessarily being shared by all.
It is also said that the transaction of between Dfcu and BoU surfaced and the allegation at hand were that about $3 million of the $8 million deposited by shareholders of Crane bank to BoU was instead shared between top individuals at Dfcu and leading lawyers and only declared $5 million. This website has confirmed with top BoU leadership on the issue of $3 million as having taken by the lawyers and top gurus at Dfcu. It is said that they further questioned why Dfcu is facing bad publicity over the Crane bank takeover as they wondered whether certain information as regards to the takeover was hidden. They concerns are further worsened by the fact that the bank is having liquidity problems.
Nevertheless, as the meeting got stormy, the shareholders started blaming each other of sabotage and backstabbing each other. And it is from this meeting that MD Juma Kisaame is said to have offered to resign. Conversely, the board has put his resignation on halt in order to reexamine the mess.
DFCU Shareholding percentages
Arise BV 58.71 per cent
CDC Group of the United Kingdom 9.97 per cent
National Social Security Fund (Uganda) 7.69 per cent
Kimberlite Frontier Africa Naster Fund 6.15 per cent
2 undisclosed Institutional Investors 3.22 per cent
SSB-Conrad N. Hilton Foundation 0.98 per cent
Vanderbilt University 0.87 per cent
Blakeney Management 0.63 per cent
Retail investors 11.19 per cent
BoU staff retirement benefit scheme is 0.59 per cent