‘Museveni’s failure to replace Mutebile at BOU is a dishonor to Uganda’s economists’, says Fr. Gaetano

Former Priest of Kitanga Parish in the Kabale Catholic Diocese Rev. Fr. Gaetano Batanyenda has accused President Yoweri Museveni of dishonoring economists in the country by his delay to appoint a new Governor for Bank of Uganda.

It is almost 9 months since the Governor Bank of Uganda Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile died, leaving the Central Bank without a chief.

Part IV of the Bank of Uganda Act 2000 states, “There shall be a governor who shall be a person of recognized financial or banking experience and shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Cabinet.”

However, calls to replace Mutebile have landed on deaf ears, amidst record rates of inflation, which a section of Ugandans have attributed to the absence of the Governor, an allegation that Bank of Uganda refutes as unfounded.

While addressing journalists in his weekly press conference, Rev. Fr. Gaetano observed that Museveni had deliberately refused to appoint a new Governor creating an impression that Uganda was short of competent people to fill the vacancy.

“How can Museveni convince us that Uganda lacks economists to head the Bank of Uganda ? It is a shame that the President keeps pretending that he has not found a replacement for Mutebile,” said Fr. Gaetano.

Fr. Gaetano added that Museveni’s delay to elevate the Deputy Governor or any other Bank of Uganda official to the office of Governor was a sign that the he did not appreciate the time they had worked with Mutebile.

“This shows that even if all Ugandans heaped praises on Mutebile , Museveni did not appreciate his long stance at the helm of the Central Bank. Otherwise one of his juniors would have been promoted to that office,” said Fr. Gaetano.

While answering questions from the press recently, the B.O.U Head of Public education Jonah Waiswa, said they were also waiting on the President to give them a new boss. However, Waiswa was quick to add that all operations of the central Bank were going on as they should be, with the Deputy Governor Micheal Atingi-Ego performing duties of the Governor.

“You know the constitution gives the Head of State authority to appoint the Governor, but the law doesn’t stipulate a specific time limit in which the Governor must be replaced. So, I request you to channel your concerns to the President for any other matter concerning appointment of the Governor,” he said .

Mr. Waiswa also used the opportunity to clarify that the cause of the steadily increasing inflation was not absence of the Governor, but high demand for commodities in the post COVID-19 period, Russia Vs Ukraine War and the drought which led to disruptions in the chain supply of commodities.

“Those three factors did not leave us the same, and the problem of inflation cuts across the whole world, including countries where they have Central Bank Governors,” he said.