President Yoweri Museveni has congratulated Bank of Uganda (BOU) for its 50 years of existence while tremendously serving the people of Uganda.
The President was today speaking during the Bank of Uganda’s 50th golden jubilee celebrations of financial stability. The celebrations ran under the theme ‘Promoting Financial Stability’. Bank of Uganda was established on July 01st 1966 and inaugurated on August 15th 1966.
President Museveni commended Bank Of Uganda for having controlled inflation rates and successfully regulated banks in Uganda. He observed by so doing, Bank of Uganda has saved the country a lot of problems. He cited five bottlenecks that Uganda was faced with after the Movement Government came to power namely, ideological disorientation, poor infrastructure, the under-development of the human resource and undermining of the role of the private sector.
He noted that during the Amin regime, the private sector was undermined and interfered with because the regime thought the sector was of no importance. He said that this was a big mistake. He, therefore, impressed upon the leaders of the Bank of Uganda, that it is their role to work with the private sector to make sure that the economy thrives. He also reiterated that controlling inflation alone without controlling the bottlenecks will not make the national economy grow.
“Stopping inflation is stopping surface bleeding. What about the damage inside,” he remarked. He cautioned the Government to stop spending money that they don’t have. He reminded them that the NRM Government has worked and harmonized the thinking of the people and worked on infrastructural development adding that the remaining issues that should be harmonized are policies on wages and taxes.
The President saluted those who had worked under the hard times of the Amin regime and noted that and it was because of their resilience that Uganda is what it is today.
During the ceremony, the President presented awards to the winners of the National Primary Schools’ Essay Competition, one of the initiatives by Bank of Uganda, to create public awareness of financial discipline and policies. Rahma Issa, a UPE pupil, won the competition, followed by Masika Evelyn a visually impaired pupil. Decent Ahereza was the third.
The President also presented awards to the long serving current staff (35 years and above). The awardees included Mr. Geoffrey Owiny, Mr. Samuel Olaka, Mrs. Rehema Mukiibi, Mr. Maurice Ochan, Ms. Janet Namugambe, Ms. Edith Kabahuma to mention but a few.
The President presented awards to former Bank of Uganda Governors and their Deputies Governors. He, too, presented awards to the current Bank of Uganda Governor, Professor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile and the current Deputy Governor, Dr. Louis Kasekende.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Hon. Matia Kasaija, commended President Museveni for providing a conducive environment that has allowed the economy to grow.
Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile thanked the President for his continued support to the bank. He reported that economic recovery would not have been possible without the peace and security that Mr. Museveni had restored. He appreciated staff members and Board members of the bank who have served the institution during its 50 years of existence.
“Without your effort, Bank of Uganda would not have achieved any of its successes,” he observed.
Visiting Central Bank Governors of Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda as well as Deputy Governors of Tanzania and South Sudan and the diplomatic corps, among others, attended the celebrations.
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