Jimmy Mugerwa, who has a career spanning over 25 years in the oil and gas sector on Monday received news that he had been recalled by his employer to the head office in London.
At a time of his sudden transfer he was serving as Tullow Oil General Manager. He has since been replaced by a seasoned female lawyer, Mariam Nampeera Mbowa who also wields a vast experience in the same field.
It remains very unclear why Tullow made such abrupt call.
But staff at Tullow who were unwilling to be named so as to speak freely told this website that their employer had long braced a sustained negative media coverage at the expense of keeping Mr. Mugerwa at the helm of the company.
Further, Tullow bosses in London were very much enraged by the negative publicity their employee had attracted after assuming the chairmanship of DFCU Bank board.
“Professionally Tullow Oil couldn’t stand Mugerwa’s negative publicity especially on internet. This was costing their name and image,” said a staff.
An insider at Tullow wondered whether Mugerwa had anticipated his transfer when he last month appealed to government to reign on local media outlets that had since given him sleepless night.
Addressing the 3rd annual Ugandan Bankers’ Conference, Mr Mugerwa confessed that the sustained negative media campaign was costing his image and that of DFCU.
Having been appointed DFCU board chairman, Jimmy Mugerwa together with Ex Managing Director Juma Kisaame played a pivotal role to manipulate DFCU to acquire Crane Bank, a move that has since become controversial and hotly contested in Courts of Law.
In January DFCU Bank took over Crane Bank from Bank of Uganda at a giveaway price.
Acrimony in DFCU
TrumpetNews has reliably learnt that Jimmy Mugerwa’s woes catapult from his leadership as DFCU board chairman after he was seen stepping on many toes and undermining his juniors at the bank.
Among those that are grinding an axe is William Sekabembe Chief of Business and Executive Director, whose dream of becoming DFCU Managing Director was shattered after Mugerwa allegedly operated from behind.
Our highly placed source at the Bank revealed that Jimmy Mugerwa clandestinely sourced Mathias Katamba to takeover from Juma Kisaame who quit the troubled institution last year.
At a time of Kisaame’s confirmed departure, Sekabembe had been warming to occupy the position but was struck by reports that DFCU had reached out to Katamba who hastily resigned from Housing Finance Bank.
“On learning that he had been betrayed, Sekabembe sealed a deal with KCB bank and he would later resign from DFCU to join the former as MD,” said a source.
However, in a unprecedented shift of events Sekabembe rejected his new appointment and stayed at DFCU despite the humiliation he suffered.
Cliques
Those conversant with Sekabembe said the smart young man had made a well calculated move to stay at DFCU and assume the MD position in future.
“He has since fuelled cliques and as we speak now DFCU is split into two factions. Those opposed to him and his associates,” said a source at DFCU.
DFCU staff claim that Sekabembe vowed to repay all those who frustrated his efforts of becoming the MD. “Top on his list was Jimmy Mugerwa,” added a source.
“He is very powerful and influences decisions at the bank,” another separate source said.
First, Sekabembe created a team loyal to him which has undermined their boss Katamba. This explains why Katamba’s loan details he acquired from DFCU were leaked to the media.
Similarly, Sekabembe initiated a fight which kept Mugerwa negatively in limelight, something that Tullow Oil couldn’t allow. Either he would be transferred or fired.
TrumpetNews also understands that because of this ambitious young man, Juma Kisaame had to decline to renew his contract despite requests from the board and donors.
His plan- Sekabembe is to see all those perceived as stumbling blocks out of the bank including Katamba- who says said he could be on his way out and DFCU will have no choice but to beg him to take over as CEO.
Mr. Mugerwa previously worked at Shell East Africa as General Manager of Sales & Operations and served as Shell Kenya Country Chairman.
He holds a BSc in Agriculture from Makerere University and a MSc in Agricultural Chemicals from the University of Wales. He is married with two children.
Mugerwa’s recall to London also comes at the time when Tullow Oil has announced a major oil discovery in the Orinduik block in Guyana, raising expectations it will move to develop a field in the oil-rich South American country.
The discovery in the closely watched Jethro-1 well follows a number of exploration successes by Exxon Mobil in the neighbouring Stabroek block in recent years.
