BoU probe committee granted extension

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Parliament has granted more time to the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) to conclude the probe into closure and sale of seven Ugandan commercial banks.

The two and half year term of the current committee led by Bugweri County MP Abdu Katuntu and Bukedea Woman MP Anita Among expires on 13th January 2019 and will be replaced by Kawempe South MP Mubarak Munyagwa and Rubaga North MP Moses Kasibante as Chairperson and Vice Chairperson respectively.

The two were nominated in August by Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party President Patrick Amuriat as new leaders of the accountability committee but they could not take office as the tenure of the current leadership was still on.

However, the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga on Thursday told MPs that Katuntu’s leadership has been extended to 20th February 2019 to allow the committee conclude their current work.

Kadaga explained that by changing the committee’s leadership now, it might jeopardize the conclusion of the bank probe.

Earlier, Katuntu had noted that he was not sure that his committee would complete the task before the end of its tenure.

Katuntu’s committee now has up to end of February 2019 to report back to parliament with its findings on the closure and sale of seven commercial banks. The committee’s investigation stems from the 2017 forensic Audit Report by the Auditor General on the closure of commercial banks.

The report highlights irregular operations at the Central Bank and the controversial closure and sale of commercial banks since 1993. The banks include Teefe Bank, International Credit Bank Ltd, Greenland Bank, The Co-operative Bank, National Bank of Commerce, Global Trust Bank, and Crane Bank Ltd.

The Audit report highlights among others unaccounted for money, missing land titles, disputed payments to external lawyers and customer loans that were inherited from the closed banks and sold at lower rates without justification.

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