OPINION: Bank of Uganda rot exposes the extreme incompetence, lack of strategic foresight by its leaders

By Andrew M. Mwenda

Over the last few weeks, parliamentary hearings on the central bank have exposed the rot in that once respected institution. Most people may think the biggest news is the corruption of its top officials. I personally think that is the smaller part of the problem. The bigger problem is the extreme incompetence and lack of strategic foresight by its leaders.

It is in this context that I read a tweet by Charles Onyango-Obbo regarding the accusations of corruption against deputy BOU governor Louis Kasekende: “Outrageous that an MP would present fake papers to a committee accusing Bank of Uganda Deputy Governor Louis Kasekende of selling a bank’s assets when he wasn’t at Bank of Uganda and was away at the Africa Development Bank Group. What has befallen Uganda?”

Then Ramathan Goobi, a lecturer at Makerere University Business School agreed: “Rent-seeking politicians and other hired mudslingers fail important due processes” he tweeted, “They leave no doubt they’re on someone’s payroll to target individuals. In this case they’ve done their job so amateurishly. Regrettably while Louis has reputation, they only have thirst for money.”

First, Obbo is my mentor, and I have always admired Kasekende for his jovial personality and excellent grasp of economics. So I need to tread this ground carefully. I like Goobi for his public spiritedness but I was disappointed that he did the cheap Ugandan thing of accusing those you disagree with of having been bribed. For Goobi, Hon Odongo Otto is not mistaken but “bribed” to mudsling Kasekende.

This brings me to the contradiction that I found in both Obbo’s and Goobi’s argument. In 2011, MP Gerald Karuhanga tabled before parliament photo copied forged documents against Sam Kutesa and Hillary Onek. Even without seeking to establish the validity and authenticity of the documents, Parliament passed 14 resolutions on the oil sector and called for the resignation of the ministers and the prime minister.

There was mob justice in parliament on that day. When the First Lady rose to say that parliament needed to verify the documents first, she was booed to silence. Mrs Janet Museveni won my admiration that day by the courage she exhibited amidst this parliamentary mob, and the dignity with which she conducted herself in the face of extreme provocation.

There was mass hysteria in traditional and social media calling for the hanging of the accused ministers. I was almost alone in insisting that we need to do verification before condemnation. I hardly remember anyone among Uganda’s influential media personalities opposing this blatant abuse of parliamentary privilege

Obbo and Goobi as influential media people should reflect on this. They should have stood firmly against this kind of behavior even their position would have been unpopular and their intentions misunderstood – with some accusing them of having been bribed and losing their souls. Obbo did argue that the documents needed authentication but I felt he was mild. Sometimes to oppose wrong requires a degree of forcefulness that Obbo’s style does not do justice to.

Indeed in the case of Kasekende, the situation is much better and normal in parliamentary work. COSASE chairman, Hon Abdul Katuntu, did not accept these documents as truths but took them as information to be investigated. I would have preferred Otto to first establish the authenticity of his documents before tabling them before parliament. Imagine if COSASE had called on Kasekende to resign immediately as they did with Kutesa and Onek!

So we need to learn to defend certain principles even when the beneficiaries of such a defense are politically hated and defending these principles is unpopular with the mob. We need to avoid selective defense of principles. Everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence and bail – whether accused of stealing public funds, killing or treason.

So when Kizza Besigye is accused of treason and we celebrate his bail and Matthew Kanyamunyu is accused of murder and we oppose his bail, we lose sight of the principle of the presumption of innocence and the right to bail. Indeed, we make these principles powerful most especially when we defend them in favor of those in government most hated by the public. For then we make them allies inside the system. They see us as principled, not opportunists seeking the next advantage.

Right now, there is widespread cyber bullying by opposition activists against those who support president Yoweri Museveni. In some parts of Kampala these bullies physically assault NRM supporters. On traditional media they make repeated petitions to stop those who disagree with them from appearing on television. We criticize these things when done by government and keep quiet when done by opposition activists.

Neither Besigye nor Bobi Wine has ever condemned cyber bullying by their supporters. None of them has condemned petitions by their supporters calling for those they do not like from appearing on television. Essentially freedom of the press only makes sense to Besigye and Bobi Wine when it is used to defend them and their cause.

If we influential media persons are courageous enough to stand against the excesses of this government but timid to challenge the intolerance and bullying of the opposition because they are popular and fashionable or because we will be misunderstood, then we are not helping build a democratic society but laying the groundwork for yet another fascist dictatorship.

I have sharp disagreements with Kasekende on the way the central bank handled issues of crane bank. Yet even then I want to defend him against false accusations. I insist every MP should establish the authenticity of their documents before they table them before parliament. Not to do so is irresponsible, incompetent and beneath the dignity of the job of an MP.