Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) on Tuesday sent away Bank of Uganda (BoU) officials from parliament because of failure to prepare documents for Shs478 billion the central bank claims it put in Crane Bank Limited (CBL) while in receivership between October 20, 2016 and January 25, 2017.
On October 20, 2016, BoU closed CBL on account of being undercapitalised and acted as the receiver of the same bank before selling it to its rival DFCU Bank on January 25, 2017 at a paltry Shs200 billion, paid in installments.
An auditor of Shs478 billion carried out by the Auditor General John Muwanga established that about Shs320 billion could not be accounted for by BoU officials much as they claimed to have transferred the money to CBL accounts. BoU say the money was put in CBL as liquidity support.
However, during the probe under former COSASE Chairman Abdu Katuntu, Benedict Sekabira said that at the time CBL was closed it only needed Shs150 billion to keep operating, yet BoU officials could claim to have spent Shs478 in CBL without supporting documents.
Now COSASE under new Chairman Mubarak Munyagwa wants to know whether the money was extended to CBL as a loan and who auhtorised it. The committee also wants to know who received the money.
Munyagwa was bitter that BoU officials would could come to parliament without required documents indicating how Shs478 billion was spent. They also did not come with the accountant, pushing Munyagwa to claim that BoU might not having an official employed as accountant as per the regulations.
During the first probe BoU officials said argued that CBL shareholders would pay the Shs478 billion, a proposal quashed by Mps on the account that the central bank acted as a lender and a borrower and therefore could not pass the debt to third parties who were not involved in the transaction.
