Ploy to involve Museveni in Dfcu bank hacking won’t solve internal issues

It has emerged that Dfcu bank plans to approach President Yoweri Museveni on the recent hacking scandal where billions of shillings disappeared from the bank and the case is reported to police authorities.

Sources say Dfcu bank top board members also want Museveni to intervene by way of stopping the media from reporting about the issue and several others. However, the said meeting with the president is yet to take place and is being organised under the guise of briefing him on economy performance. It is said one of the two board members will lead the team.

The media has of late been reporting about the hacking of billions of money in Dfcu bank. The matter is also being investigated by police to establish and arrest people behind it.The media is only doing its job of informing the public and has no ill motives.

It appears Dfcu bank managers only appreciate positive stories about the company but a story that is negative, however true it is, is taken as sabotage. Many media houses including this website have written good or positive stories about Dfcu bank, which shows there is no intentional malice against the bank.

The media have published negative stories about other banks in Uganda but those banks have never come up to complain because they were true. Some banks for example were reported in the media for holding on to pensioners’ money, giving loans to dead people, among other stories but they have never come out to blame the media. The Bank of Uganda (BoU) which regulates the local banking sector has not been spared either.

The media’s aim to contribute to transparency and accountability in the banking industry. Investors need banks that are transparent and accountable to the public. Shareholders also want to deal with managers who are transparent in their operations and transactions.

In such circumstance it is wrong for Dfcu bank or nay other bank to try to prevent the media from doing their noble job. However, it is important to note that the media has also been careful not to publish some articles that could harm the banking industry, yet some bankers are responsible for the chaos in their own institutions.

It is on record that Dfcu bank does not like media houses that have reported about not good incidents in that institution for example the controversial acquisition of Crane Bank Limited (CBL) and Global Trust Bank Uganda (GTBU). The report of parliament’s Committee on Commissions, State Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) is clear on this matter that had the BoU management blamed as well.

It is also on record that DFCU Bank has tried to influence security agencies to reprimand journalists that write the so-called negative stories about the bank. Journalists have received telephone calls from individuals who claim to be doing it on behalf of the bank.

The continuous claim that the negative stories about the bank could hurt the Ugandan economy is misleading. Dfcu bank is loved and managers there only have to put things right. For instance they should ensure that their systems are secure to beat hackers and others.

When the media reports on any organisation in the way that the institutions thinks it is negative, the media is interested in proving solutions to the problem so that the bad incidents don’t repeat again. That is why Dfcu bank should solve problems internally rather thinking of reporting the media to Museveni, whose government has guaranteed press freedom to the greatest extent.