Central Bank officials led by Governor Emmanuel Mutebile were Thursday grilled by MPS over their role in closure of seven private banks as reported by Auditor General John Muwanga.
The officials asked for more time to present documentary evidence in relation to the sale of the financial institutions.
The central bank was represented by Mutebile and his Deputy Louis Kasekende who appeared appearing before the parliamentary committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) to respond to queries by the Auditor General’s report on controversial closure of 7 Banks that include; Teefe Bank (1993), International Credit Bank Ltd (1998), Greenland Bank (1999), The Co-operative Bank (1999), National Bank of Commerce (2012), Global Trust Bank (2014) and the sale of Crane Bank Ltd (CBL) to dfcu (2016) at Shs200bn.
The committee head Hon Abdu Katuntu (Bugweri County) said that probe which has already sucked in members of the public and his team will therefore handle the matter professionally.
However, Rubaga North MP Moses Kasibante raised a procedural matter saying that the BoU responses to the AG report lack documentary attachments which makes it difficult to hold the officials accountable.
“Many of these people who own these banks want accountability so we need accountability. We are conscious of your (BoU) constitutional independence, but independence doesn’t mean non accountability. We know BoU is independent but accountability is a constitutional requirement. What we are looking is accountability not criminal prosecution,” Katuntu said.
In response, Mutebile told the committee that they have all the supporting documents in regards to closure of the Banks, but requested for more time to present them for scrutiny.
“It is quite impossible to reply to these demands within a day. We need a couple of days [to submit the documents]. We seek for more time so that we submit on Monday afternoon,” Mutebile said.
Katuntu adjourned the meeting up to Friday, but allowed BoU to submit all the necessary documents by close of business on Monday.
