Finance Minister Matia Kasaija has applauded the manner in which Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises has exposed weaknesses in the Bank of Uganda processes, particularly in the closure of Crane Bank in October 2016, and disposing it off in 2017 to handpicked, DFCU bank.
Mr Kasaija was appearing before Cosase on Friday morning alongside BoU governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile and his deputy Louis Kasekende, and the board of the central bank. The minister known for his candid talk said, it is clear BoU mishandled Crane Bank, which at the time of its closure was the biggest indigenous bank.
BoU has been indicted by several reports including the Auditor General’s report as well shareholders of several defunct banks for closing banks without following the letter of the law.
Among the closed bank are; Teefe bank (1993), International Credit Bank (1998), Greenland Bank (1999), Cooperative Bank (1999), National Bank of Commerce (2012), Global Trust Bank (2014) and Crane Bank (2016).
The closure of Crane Bank in 2016 triggered interest in the affairs of Bank of Uganda. It has been revealed in several testimonies that officials of BoU acted with reckless abandon while closing banks, and there is room for suspicion there were selfish interests in bank closures.
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