By our reporter
Last month, Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) was put under pressure for failing to investigate Justine Bagyenda, the outgoing Bank of Uganda Executive Director for supervision over alleged illegitimate accumulation of wealth.
And now a youth advocacy group known as Youth Power Research Uganda (YoPRU) has petitioned the Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda over FIA ‘s reluctance to probe into Bagyenda’s wealth.
The group which has over 3,000 members has claimed that since a whistleblower alerted FIA to investigate Bagyenda’s source of wealth in March, nothing has been done.
The youth say this shows that Sydney Asubo, the Authority’s Executive Director is not competent for the job.
“Even two months after the petition, there is single draft report made hence casting fear among anti-corruption crusaders to think that Asubo, the Executive Director FIA, is no longer competent for the job,” the May 30 petition reads in part.
“In the same vein, we would like to commend Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, who overruled the subjudice rule and wrote to the Auditor General to go ahead and audit BoU on how three banks, including one big bank (Crane Bank) carrying a systematic risk could be hastily closed without considering its impact on jobs for youth and financial penetration,” read the petition signed by Mathias Ssempala, the group’s head of publicity.
The youth now want the Prime Minister and other responsible authorities to look into Bagyenda’s matter as soon as possible so that she could be dealt with accordingly.
In February, a whistleblower petitioned the Inspector General of Government (IGG) claiming that Bagyenda has accumulated more than Shs 19 billion within a space of two years. The money, the whistleblower claimed has been put on bank accounts in various commercial banks.
During the course, Diamond Trust Bank and Barclays Bank apologized to Bagyenda over the leaked bank accounts and also sacked officials who took part in leaking the details.
She is also linked to 17 properties in central and western Uganda worth several billions. Bagyenda was supposed to declare her wealth under the Leadership Code Act that stipulates that a person shall within three months after becoming a leader and thereafter every two years, during December submit to the IGG a written declaration of their income, assets and liabilities.”
FIA is the government agency mandated to monitor and investigate money laundering activities in the country.
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