Museveni’s BoU probe details leak

Irrelevant report?

Events that sparked the IGG investigation started when, following Mutebile’s reshuffle in February 2018, aggrieved staff petitioned the IGG’s office accusing him of wrongdoing and calling for an investigation.

Acting on this, the IGG responded by instituting an investigation into the reshuffle and ordered that the staff changes by Mutebile be halted pending the outcome of the investigations.  But in a March 6, 2018 letter Mutebile rejected the IGG’s intervention.

“The Inspectorate does not have the authority to give direction to Bank of Uganda,” Mutebile wrote.

In a March 12 letter, Mulyagonja responded that the constitutional independence of the Bank with regard to the execution of its functions as laid out under Article 162 is only guaranteed where the Bank is deemed to be acting in good faith and in accordance with the law, relevant regulations and policies and the principles of natural justice.

In a March.19 letter Mutebile shot back accusing the IGG of having “already formed an opinion’ that he was acting in bad faith and taking over the role of BoU Board of Directors.
Mutebile said Mulyagonja’s already formed opinion “makes an investigation redundant”.
“But more importantly, this presumption of bad faith undermines the Bank of Uganda’s reputational integrity,” he added.
Irked by Mutebile’s responses, the IGG threated to have Mutebile arrested.
With the situation appearing to be getting out of hand, President Museveni intervened and invited the IGG, BoU officials and some members of parliament for a meeting on March 23, 2018.

At the meeting which started at 3pm at State House Entebbe, President Museveni warned the officials that he was tired of seeing BoU matters in the press.

At one point, he turned to Mulyagonja and asked: “I thought transfers were internal matters of an institution, why are you interfering?”
Mulyagonja said she had received several complaints including from a senior credible person who she said she was willing to privately disclose to the President.

When Mutebile’s turn to speak reached, he said initially they responded to the IGG’s letter and hoped that she would at most investigate but were shocked when in the following correspondence she appeared to have formed an opinion. It is on the basis of that, Mutebile said, that he responded the way he did.

To put an end to back and forth between Mutebile and Mulyagonja, President Museveni set up a committee to look into the reshuffle and make recommendations.

Now, there are concerns that the report by this committee might be irrelevant because by the time it comes out, all the focus will be on the COSASE report which, in any case, is compiled by the same people.

Sources at State House say President Museveni appears keener on the COSASE report. COSASE is set to start writing its report early February but it has also been tainted by a huddle in which the opposition leadership was pushing to reconstitute it—an effort Speaker Rebecca Kadaga intervened and blocked.

Once they complete their report, it will have to be discussed on the floor of parliament. This debate is expected to have a major bearing on BoU.

Whichever way it goes, insiders at State House say President Museveni might allow Mutebile and Kasekende to stay on until their term ends as he finds who to replace them with.