Reports coming in indicate that a top Bank of Uganda (BoU) official who owns properties worth tens of billions of Ugandan Shillings is mooting plans to sell off some of the properties in Kampala and Wakiso districts and keep the proceeds in a foreign Bank.
The official whose name appears prominently especially in the controversial sale of National Bank of Commerce (NBC), Global Trust Bank (GTB) and Crane Bank Limited (CBL), is as well said to be mooting a plan to send his sons to Ghana where his young brother works in certain bank. Recent Leaked bank documents show one of his sons transacting huge amounts of money. It is said the son runs the account on behalf of the father, same to his wife.
The official, together with his colleague who has since retired form BoU, are said to have arranged for the purchase of assets and assumption of all or some of the liabilities of some of the banks and are said to have benefited financially from this arrangement. The colleague who retired unceremoniously is also very rich, with recent leaked documents showing she has stashed billions of shillings on her bank accounts but also multi-billion shillings properties around Kampala. She is under investigation as well.
Inside sources in BoU say the Governor, Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, is not happy that the official who tried to stop the Auditor General Mr. John Muwanga from investigating the institution over the defunct banks, kept hid vital information from him. Actually sources in the central bank say Tumusiime-Mutebile is happy that Parliament’s Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) is digging into the matter though they say he is scared of the court process given that there are pending cases in court related to the matter.
Some time back when asked in the media on which BoU top official was responsible for the mess in the sale of CBL and generally the banking industry, indirectly pointed a finger to the official in question and his female colleague, now a retiree. Mutebile is of the view that the mistakes and greed of a few officials should make the rest of BoU top employees culpable.
The said official tried so much to stop the Auditor General well knowing that the investigation would pin him and not his boss Mutebile and indeed Mr. Muwanga questioned him especially as regards the sale of NBC, GTB and CBL.
Inside sources say the BoU official has sought the help of the top Roman Catholic Church hierarchy but the latter have ignored him, arguing that he should carry his own cross. Sources say the official’s efforts to reach the powers that be in this country have also been futile as the state is interested in finding out how the official who joined BoU in 2010 got his amazing wealth.
Despite complaints about his wealth, the official says he acquired some of it through research projects he has been able to do and the employment he had at a continental bank. Apart from the IGG, it is said the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) is following up the wealth of the official.
The IGG has started the process to verify the properties of the official as Cosase also prepares to quiz him on the controversial sale of some of defunct banks.