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Leaked plan reveals BoU shady moves to liquidate Crane Bank

By
Our Reporter
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A leaked Strategy document has revealed dubious plans by the Central Bank to liquidate Crane Bank, despite rulings by the Supreme Court.

A Strategy Plan developed by Ms Margaret Kasule,the Director Legal, and submitted to the Governor Tumusiime Mutebile reveals plans by BoU to illegally liquidate Crane Bank.

The plan, titled: Proposed Strategy on Crane Bank appeal was submitted to the BoU Governor on 16th October 2020.

The Strategy sucks in other Government agencies like Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) and the Attorney General’s Chambers.

“With regard to assets,we request for your approval to constitute a team comprising of Legal ,Board Secretariat to collect,label, scan and preserve the the assets in respect to Crane Bank,”reads the plan.

The Strategy adds that:” With regards to the retained loans,the collation & documentation of outstanding loans as evidence is likely to crop up,”.

In the plan,Mrs Kasule also sought the clearance of the Governor to initiate the process of liquidating Crane Bank after getting the required approvals.

The Central Bank on Friday published a notice on it’s social media platforms putting Crane Bank under liquidation.

Bank of Uganda (BoU) took over management of Crane Bank Ltd (CBL) on October 20, 2016 and subsequently progressed it into receivership on January 24, 2017. In exercise of its powers under section 99 (1) & (2) of the Financial Institutions Act, 2004, BoU has now placed CBL under liquidation and ordered the winding up of its affairs. The Central Bank shall be the liquidator of CBL,” said the Central Bank in a notice signed by Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile.

However,top financial lawyers have warned that the attempt to liquidate Crane Bank contravenes the Financial Intelligence Act,2015.

“The powers of the Central Bank in the management of commercial banks are spelt out in the Financial Intelligence Act. They are not arbitrary. Any attempts to liquidate Crane Bank would be a violation of that Act,”said one lawyer familiar with the processes of liquidating Banks.

Another lawyer also warned that any attempts to liquidate Crane Bank would be against the ruling of the Supreme Court.

“Crane Bank ceased being a financial institution under the FIA Act when it was taken over by the Central Bank. The Central Bank has since lost many cases in the Supreme Court. The Central Bank can not therefore try to liquidate it,”said the lawyer.

Lawyers also warned that the judgements of both the High Court and Court of Appeal stating that receivership is still in force are binding.

In wide-ranging interviews with experts in the Financial sector,it is clear that any attempts to liquidate Crane Bank would be a violation of the law.

 

 

 

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BoU warned against liquidating Crane Bank

By
Our Reporter
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BoU Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile.

Top financial lawyers have warned the Bank of Uganda that it could run into financial trouble if it goes ahead and liquidates the assets of Crane Bank in receivership.

The Central Bank yesterday published a notice on it’s social media platforms putting Crane Bank under liquidation.

“Bank of Uganda (BoU) took over management of Crane Bank Ltd (CBL) on October 20, 2016 and subsequently progressed it into receivership on January 24, 2017. In exercise of its powers under section 99 (1) & (2) of the Financial Institutions Act, 2004, BoU has now placed CBL under liquidation and ordered the winding up of its affairs. The Central Bank shall be the liquidator of CBL,” said the Central Bank in a notice signed by Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile.

However,top financial lawyers have warned that the attempt to liquidate Crane Bank contravenes the Financial Intelligence Act,2015.

“The powers of the Central Bank in the management of commercial banks are spelt out in the Financial Intelligence Act. They are not arbitrary. Any attempts to liquidate Crane Bank would be a violation of that Act,”said one lawyer familiar with the processes of liquidating Banks.

Another lawyer also warned that any attempts to liquidate Crane Bank would be against the ruling of the Supreme Court.

“Crane Bank ceased being a financial institution under the FIA Act when it was taken over by the Central Bank. The Central Bank has since lost many cases in the Supreme Court. The Central Bank can not therefore try to liquidate it,”said the lawyer.

Lawyers also warned that the judgements of both the High Court and Court of Appeal stating that receivership is still in force are binding.

In wide-ranging interviews with experts in the Financial sector,it is clear that any attempts to liquidate Crane Bank would be a violation of the law.

Section 95 of the FIA permits BoU to close a bank (i.e. take away its banking license) and then place it under Receivership.

“On January 18th 2017, CBL was closed as a bank (and it ceased to be a licensed bank) and was placed into Receivership by the Central Bank. It ceased to be a licensed financial institution when it was placed in receivership. All of this was within BOU’s power under the FIA, which allowed it to close the bank and to place it into receivership. In both HCCS 493/2017 and Civil Appeal 252/2019, both filed by BoU to assert powers as Receiver of CBL, the High Court and the Court of Appeal both found that the Receivership of CBL ended 12 months after it commenced (i.e. January 2018),“ added another lawyer, that is familiar with the case.

“After this date when the courts of law determined that receivership had ended, BoU lost all legal authority over the affairs of CBL. It must be remembered that BoU’s authority is granted by the FIA and is limited by the FIA. Both the Commercial Court and Court of Appeal Courts found that under the FIA, BOU’s authority as Receiver of CBL ended in January 2018. This means that after that date, BoU has no authority to make any decisions of any kind for CBL. Like at the end of all receiverships, the company is returned to its Board of Directors and Shareholders. After January 2018, CBL by law was supposed to return to its Board of Directors and Shareholders,” the lawyer said.

“The Judgments of the High Court and the Court of Appeal which state that Receivership ended are still in force and binding on all parties. They have never been stayed or set aside. BoU tried to stay the enforcement of the Judgment of the High Court in the Court of Appeal and lost that application. BoU also tried to stay the enforcement of the Judgment of the Court of Appeal and lost that application in the Supreme Court. Both BoU’s attempts to stay were dismissed with costs against BoU. The current state of the law is that Receivership ended and BoU has no power or authority over the affairs of CBL,” the Commercial lawyers added.

Eagle Online  has learnt that in trying to liquidate Crane Bank, it is part of the scheme of grabbing asserts of the bank including those of Meera Investment Limited which Crane Bank was renting from. Previously, Meera has had a protracted and successful legal battle with BoU and Dfcu bank over Meera properties which they had illegally occupied under the guise of CBL asserts.

However, other sources say having successfully exposed the ill intentions of top officials at BoU who used CBL takeover as a conduit to steal public funds to a tune of Shs400 billion, this liquidation could be a ploy to account for the money to stole.

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Shincheonji Church of Jesus will hold the 3rd Online Prayer Meeting for the end of Covid 19 on the 15th

By
Our Reporter
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A prayer meeting for the end of Covid 19 will be held ahead of the group plasma donation with 4,000 people.

□ The Shincheonji Church of Jesus ‘ the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony (Chairman Lee Man-hee,referred to as the Shincheonji Church of Jesus) will hold an online prayer meeting for the government, medical staffs, patients, bereaved families and the people who are devoting all their energy to the prevention of Covid 19 around the world on the 15th.

□ The Shincheonji Church of Jesus announced that it will hold a non-face-to-face online ‘the 3rd Global Religious Union Prayer Meeting’ on the 15th. He also suggested that all religious people who share the same will join it with a united heart. The prayer meeting will be broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus at 9 a.m. (Ugandan time) on the same day, and the domestic and the foreign believers will participate in it. Also, anyone wishing to end Covid 19, a religion around the world, can participate.

□ The prayer meeting was proposed by Lee Man-hee, chairman of the General Assembly, to end the global village of Covid 19, along with the development of effective and rapid treatment ahead of the massive plasma donation of 4,000 complete recovered people of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. Especially, it has the meaning that religion should become exemplary in this situation of disasters and overcome the crisis by transcending denomination and religion.

□ Lee Man-hee, chairman of the General Assembly, said, “There are so many people suffering from Covid 19, especially in February, when many people were infected in the church, and the saints and citizens suffered a lot. “We should actively pray to God for the end of Covid 19 and for the sake of the country and the people,” he said. “Also, as the world suffers from Covid 19, I suggested that religious people around the world will gather their hearts and get out of the disaster quickly.”

□ The chairman also emphasized, “Even if the church facilities got permission to open, we should not conduct face-to-face services or meetings, but install heat check machines, take preventive measures, and thoroughly manage the church.”

□ Since the beginning of the spread of Covid 19 in February this year, Shincheonji Church of Jesushas been praying for the end of Covid 19, the safety of prevention officials and medical staffs, and the recovery of patients.

□ “The intention is to pray together with all saints for the development of the vaccine and the end of Covid 19 ahead of the third group plasma donation involving 4,000 cured saints,” said an official at the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. “We will do everything we can with a responsible attitude until the end of the Covid 19 incident.”

※ Note: The Shincheonji Church of Jesus has been holding non-face-to-face online services since February 18th, so please do not misunderstand.

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Why Col. Nakalema should thank the budget committee for exposing the radio scandal

By
Editorial
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Col. Nakalema

Two unnamed top government officials have been sighted in the #Covid-19 radio-sets scandal as members of the Budget Parliamentary Committee investigated the factory that won the bid on Thursday evening.

During lockdown, the government earmarked over Shs330 billion from a supplementary budget to procure and distribute nine million radio sets to students nationwide to help facilitate home learning through lessons on radio networks.

Orion Electrics and Transformers Limited, the factory that won the bid is expected to supply five million radio sets valued at Shs33,000 each while the remaining four million radio sets will be imported at Shs42,000 each.

However, the Budget Parliamentary Committee discovered that the radio samples were actually imported from China through DHL and the factory also has no capacity to assemble or manufacture such radios in Uganda.

After touring the premises of Orion Transformers and Electrics Ltd at Namanve Industrial Park, the MPs questioned how the Education Ministry arrived at the market value of the radio sets from the company that has no single radio set on the Ugandan market.

The head of the Anti-Corruption Unit in the State House, Lt. Col. Edith Nakalema should intervene and investigate the way the program was being handled.

However, questions are being asked how the two powerful ladies evaded Col. Nakalema sight and went ahead to present a fake dealer to supply radios at the time when the economy is struggling.

The ladies both ministers of state and recently rejected in their bid to retain their seats in parliament are reported to be the ‘godmothers to the said Namave based investor.  Col. Nakalema should thank the budget committee for having the guts to expose the scandal but she should not leave scot free because of the irregularities involved.

The two ladies that had the ear of the president used their closeness to the head of state to front a quack supplier who used his buildings in Namave as a factory manufacturing these radios and yet they were being imported as spare parts.

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Uganda’s Julia Sebutinde re-elected to the International Court of Justice

By
Our Reporter
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sebutinde

Justice Julia Sebutinde has been re-elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a second term.

Sebutinde received 139 votes in the second round, defeating Rwanda which got 87 votes and Nigeria 31. She is the first African woman to sit on the World Court since 2012.

She won Rwanda’s Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, Nigeria Elias Olufemi, and Seršić Maja from Croatia.

Adonia Ayebare, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Uganda to the United Nations tweeted; “Delighted to announce the election of Justice Julia Sebutinde of Uganda to the International Court of Justice for a second term. I was privileged for leading the campaign team in New York. I thank my Boss Hon. Sam Kutesa, PS Mugoya and the team at MOFA.”

“Congratulations Justice Sebutinde you’re an excellent candidate and a big Sister. I am privileged for having led your campaign twice a record at the UN. I thank my team at the Mission for their support. I also congratulate other candidates from Japan, Germany, China and Slovakia.” he added.

According to ICJ website, for one to be appointed a judge at the ICJ, he or she had to be elected by members of the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council, where polling takes place simultaneously but independent of each other.

In order to be elected, a candidate had to have an absolute majority in both bodies, which often leads to much lobbying and a number of rounds of voting.

Sebutinde is one of Africa’s most senior female judges and the first woman to work as a judge at the ICJ which she joined on February 6, 2012.

Together with others, she will serve at the Hague for a nine-year term beginning on February 6th, 2021 until 2030.

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City arcades, shopping malls not adhering to COVID-19 SOPs

By
Ronard Shabomwe
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Two men one for temperature measuring and another to ensure that people wash hands, are busy on phone calls while people come and enter without adhering to SOPs.

Arcades and shopping malls in the central business area are not adhering to the Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures- SOPs.

In July, President Museveni ordered for the reopening of the arcades and shopping malls to enable business people work after spending over 3 months without working due to the lockdown and closure of the arcades.

During the inspections, the Kampala Capital City Authority -KCCA issued new guidelines requiring arcades to have a dedicated isolation room for possible COVID-19 suspects, hand washing facilities, cleaners dressed in personal protective gear and adequate detergents to use in cleaning. Owners and operators were also advised to install CCTV cameras at each entry, exit and level and a body temperature screening for clients and attendants using functional infrared thermometers.

They were also to ensure social distancing, no traders or other people in the corridors, no traders on the verandahs and on the steps of the roadside and to make sure that they must keep records of everybody who buys from there.

In the first months  of reopening, many arcades and shopping malls put in place the SOPs and adhered to them, however, they have now  relaxed implementing the measures.

This Website visits some of these arcades like Mukwano Arcade, Grand Corner Plaza, Arua Park Annex, Sekaziga House, Arua Park Plaza, Magoba Shopping Mall, Mega Plaza and Modern complex.

Others include ; KK TRUST, Ham Shopping Grounds, Teddy’s Plaza, Nabugabo Arcade, Kampala Plaza, Trust Arcade, E-M Plaza, and Galilaya Shopping Centre, Court tower among others.

This reporter observed that some of the arcades have hand washing facilities but no one is enforcing the washing of the hands. People come in large numbers and bypass without minding about washing their hands.

At Court tower opposite city square where there is an urban supermarket there are water taps set for washing hands, however, a number of clients pass by without washing or sanitizing hands.

This reporter managed to access the supermarket and other businesses shops in this building using entrances where there are guards (Guard force security and investigation Ltd) standing with temperature guns without checking him.

Robert Semwanga, a temperature gun attendant at court tower says that he measures people and gets tired. As a result, he ends up remaining stationed in one position with his gun temperature pretending to be active.

When asked about the isolation room, he said that ever since they reopened, they have never got any person with worrying temperatures to take to their isolation room. In other arcades, even people in the business said they have never heard about isolation rooms in their buildings.

Semwanga says that he was told by his bosses that if a person has 37 degrees and above temperature measures, he or she should be taken to an isolation room. However, no one has ever measured that.

At Hanifa towers, Jimmy Kakooza said that the challenge they are facing is that people come at the same time and he can’t put them on waiting because washing hands takes time.

He also noted that it is also hard to enforce SOPs since the number of people accessing the building is overwhelming.

Lawrence Bukenya, a trader in Kikuubo dealing in plastics, raises a concern that people were serious when the country still had few COVID-19 patients but now when the number of patients and death is overwhelming, people have relaxed. He appeals to people accessing town to at least wear masks.

At both entrances to the busiest area of Kikuubo, in July this year, there were big hand washing facilities and two men used to force people to wash hands. However, there is none at both entrances now.

In all the arcades our reporter visited, there was no one registering customers, some people conduct their business in the corridors and at the verandas, both customers and business attendants are not wearing masks.

This Website also learnt that due to big numbers of people moving up and down, it has become very difficult to ensure social distancing.

There are over 14,993 COVID-19 cases, 7,939 recoveries and over 139 deaths in Uganda.

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Ghana’s former president Jerry Rawlings dies at 73

By
Agencies
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RIP: Jerry Rawlings.

Ghana’s former President Jerry John Rawlings has died at the age of 73.

He led two coups, first in 1979, before twice being elected president in multi-party polls.

A charismatic figure, he first seized power railing against corruption and was responsible for executing several former heads of state for their alleged graft and mismanagement.

He was also seen as a champion of the poor, but came to be criticised for alleged human rights abuses.

A week of national mourning has been announced in Ghana.

Reports from Ghana say that the former president died in hospital in the capital, Accra, after a short illness.

The son of a Scottish farmer and a Ghanaian mother, Rawlings entered the Ghana Air Force, graduating in 1969.

A decade later, as a senior officer in the air force, he overthrew a military government, handing over power to a civilian leader.

He oversaw the execution of several former heads of state and army generals for corruption, but expressed some regret about the killings. Later the execution by firing squad of Supreme Court judges also left a stain on his legacy.

“I am still aware that we in Ghana do not like bloodshed,” he said at the time.

“I personally do not like it. I mean, I’d rather, let’s say, confiscate a man’s wealth and bring him down to the level to which he’s brought us just to give him a taste of what life has been, what he’s done to us.”

Two years later he led a second coup and was the head of a military junta until introducing multi-party elections in 1992, when he was first elected president. He stepped down in 2001 after serving two terms.

He began his time in power as a committed socialist, but later introduced free-market reforms.

He ushered in a long period of political stability, that continues in Ghana today, after a tumultuous series of coups in the 1960s and 1970s.

In later years, Rawlings campaigned for African nations to have their international debts written off.

In 2010 it was announced he had been named as the African Union envoy to Somalia.

His legacy is controversial and he divided opinion domestically and in the wider world.

His detractors accused him of torture, corruption and worse. To his supporters, he brought order, security and prosperity to Ghana.

Tributes have started pouring in for Rawlings.

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo announced seven days of national mourning.

“A great tree has fallen, and Ghana is poorer for this loss,” he said in a statement.

Liberian President George Weah said “Ghana, Liberia and Africa will miss a great leader”.

“Liberia remembers his immense contribution to the attainment and sustainment of peace during our dark days of our own history,” he added in a tweet.

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Kanyamunyu sentenced to 5 years in prison

By
Isaiah Mwebaze
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kanyamunyu

Mathew Kanyamunyu has been sentenced to prison for five years after pleading guilty for the manslaughter of social worker and child rights activist Kenneth Akena.

The sentencing that took place on the 11th November 2020 also saw his accomplice and girlfriend Cynthia Munwangari acquitted of all charges by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The Assistant DPP Magaret Nakigudde and the Chief State Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya communicated the new developments in this case and noted that it would be finally closed after the defendant admitted responsibility for the death of Akena.

Kanyamunyu was arrested in 2016 on suspicion of the murder of Akena after an altercation between the two left the latter fighting for his life.

Despite Akena’s dying declaration and the two bullets discovered in the body of the deceased implicated the two suspects, Kanyamunyu together with his girlfriend still maintained the alibi that they had taken the deceased to the hospital as good samaritans and thus pleaded not guilty, until recently.

In a sudden turn of events, in September this year, Kanyamunyu and his relatives approached the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI) to broker a reconciliation in a traditional ritual known as Mato Oput ritual with the help of Dr. John Baptist Odama.

Although no one knows what could have driven the defendant to such desperate antics, it only served to implicate him even further; forfeiting him the legal representation of his then lawyers: Caleb Alaka, Evans Ochieng and Mc Dusman Kabega. The defendant further agreed to enter a plea bargain and pay 10 cows and goats to the deceased family in hopes that would bring him peace and possibly reduce his sentence.

Nonetheless his change of plea did little to help but prove his guilt and give the judicial system more fodder to implicate the suspects. After a long three years of debate and speculation, justice has finally been served and Mathew Kanyamunyu will have to pay for his crimes in a cellar for the next five years.

However a number of Ugandans feel that the sentence was not justified especially given the fact that the prison term for manslaughter would be a ‘life sentence’ instead of the five years given to Kanyamunyu.

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What you need to know about the Ethiopian-Tigrayan crisis

By
Isaiah Mwebaze
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ethiopia-tigray-conflict-army..

Thousands of Ethiopian soldiers and refugees have escaped into neighboring country Sudan as tension continues to escalate between Tigray fighters and the Federal government militia following the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s call for military intervention in the Northern region of Ethiopia.

Tigray is one of the few semi-autonomous areas within Ethiopia with most of its inhabitants of Tigrayan ethnicity as its governing party The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) provided most of Ethiopia’s leaders in the past until recently when Abiy of the Oromo tribe took over government.

Despite several attempts in the past to unify and bring peace among the different tribes and parties of Ethiopia, racial conflicts and divides still undermine the country’s potential and growth. The prime minister recently ordered the military intervention in the Tigray province as opposed to the peace talks he so highly advocated for during his Nobel Peace prize acceptance speech in 2019 after he claimed the TPLF attacked a military base within the province.

Although his efforts saw an end to the Eritrean-Ethiopian Border war that rocked the nation for two years, his charisma seems to have had no effect on the Tigrayans, who for decades held a sizeable amount of power and influence in Ethiopia’s politics. The sudden change in powere has led to growing friction between the two parties and escalated when the Tigrayans held their own elections despite the Prime Minister calling off the elections due to Covid-19 restrictions.

For Centuries Ethiopia’s politics have been influenced by ethnicity as various tribes and ethnic lines determined the outcome of various governments regardless of the country’s best interests. This factor led to the Prime Minister’s proposal of a multi-racial party the pan-Ethiopian Prosperity Party (PP) that would unify the various ethnic parties, however TPLF would have none of it, further pushing for an independent government separate from the Ethiopian Federal Government.

The last straw came when the TPLF refused to acknowledge Abiy’s regime and instead opted to carry out independent elections further snubbing the government’s attempts to unify the different ethnical parties. On the other hand Tigray’s leaders have spoken out and accused Abiy’s regime of unfairly targeting them in corruption scandals and blaming them for majority of the country’s problems, forcing them to fight back against what they describe as an ‘authoritarian regime.’

So far hundreds of Ethiopians have been reported dead in the ongoing Tigrayan crisis and thousands more continue to flee although the Prime Minister maintains that the country isn’t deteriorating into chaos. Many suspect that the war threatens to besmirch the stellar performance of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate who advocated for peace at the beginning to his term in Government.

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Court of Appeal in Fort Portal overturns life imprisonment sentence, releases two

By
Our Reporter
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court of appeal fort portal

On Day Three of the ongoing Court of Appeal’s Criminal Session, Justices; Kenneth Kakuru, Christopher Madrama and Irene Mulyagonja have delivered four decisions in fulfillment of their promise to expedite Justice and to deliver Judgments in time.

The court released two appellants and reduced sentences in the other two cases.

While ordering for the acquittal of Asuman Katende, who was meant to serve life imprisonment, their Lordships decried the unfortunate delay to hear some of the Appeals for over 10 years, which unfortunately has its indelible consequences on the accused persons, who may eventually be found innocent.

The other appellant who was released was serving a 25-year jail term for the offence of murder. The Court noted that Tumuhimbise Edward was of unsound mind at the time of committing the offence, but the trial court did not make a finding on this issue. The court argued that having spent about 12 years in prison, it was no longer viable to order a retrial and refer the appellants for Ministers Order under S.45 of the Trial Indictment Act.

In the other appeals; the Court substituted a 24 year jail term with a sentence of 12 years and six months for the offence of Aggravated Robbery. Another appellant who was serving a 25-year jail term for Aggravated Defilement is now serving 13 years and seven months. The Court considered that he had pleaded guilty, was a first offender and exhibited intentions to reform and become useful in society.

The Court’s Deputy Registrar, Ayebare Tumwebaze reiterated the Justices’ commitment to ensure timely justice delivery.

He said that more Judgments are to be delivered before the hearing phase ends, while the remaining judgments will be delivered in a month’s time.

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