By Lawrence Ssentongo
Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (#Cosase) is incensed that former director of supervision for commercial banks at the Bank of Uganda has dodged an important probe session in which she ought to tell parliamentarians how she has been running business at the central bank.
Mrs Justine #Bagyenda who some committee members say has been a hostile and arrogant since she was summoned before the probe, is believed to have left the country, according to the memo she sent Cosase chairman Abdu Katuntu and copied in the deputy governor of BoU, Mr Louis #Kasekende.
“This is to inform you that I will be out of the country,” Bagyenda wrote a memo which was not copied into the governor but his deputy, “to attend to some engagements which I have confirmed before receipt of your letter Ref Gov.902 dated 19/11/2018 regarding COSASE meetings.
However, her memo has not gone down well with legislators who have called on immigration to ascertain if she has indeed left the country, with some calling for her arrest on sight.
Chairman #Katuntu on Friday morning ruled that the probe be suspended until all Bank of Uganda officials were present. He however thanked Governor Emmanuel Mutebile for attending all sessions he has been summoned to. However MPs are not happy that BoU officials have looked shabby before the committee including ex officials at the bank such as Mrs Bagyenda refusing to answer questioning hiding behind the pretext she was no longer an employee of the Central bank. However, most of the queries before Cosase pertain to the era Mrs Bagyenda was in charge of commercial bank supervision.
Parliament wants to know why Mrs Bagyenda did not hand over some important records including progress reports to his successor, or, she produces them. The issue of progress reports became a thorny issue in the proceedings about the Central Bank before COSASE. The committee deferred the probe until the reports were tabled.
The Bagyenda memo has therefore been interpreted by some members of the committee as efforts by Mrs Bagyenda to delay the investigations or hide some information or buy time.
The appearances before COSASE have exposed deep rooted divisions at BoU, with some officials seemingly unable to agree on a single issue. Even before strangers.
It turns out BoU of Uganda is a poor record keeper and have changed goal posted in the way they handle business including using non Ugandan laws to make decisions pertaining to closure of banks.
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