The reappointment of sacked and disgraced former Bank of Uganda Executive Director, Mrs. Justine Bagyenda to the board of Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) now hangs in balance following her failure to report to the parliamentary Appointments Committee.
FIA is a government agency established by the Parliament of Uganda under The Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2013, to monitor, investigate, and prevent money laundering in the country.
Bagyenda was scheduled to appear before the committee at 11:40am to defend her reappointment by Finance Minister, Matia Kasaijja, but by close of business yesterday, she had not appeared. However, other board members such as Mr. Leo Kibirago, who is the designated FIA Board chairperson; Mr. Patrick Ocailap, Grace Akullo’s and Ms Patricia Mutesi all turned up.
Even though Bagyenda, who is facing a raft of investigations from the Financial Intelligence Authority itself as well as the Inspectorate of Government, did not turn up, the committee already had a number of petitions against her re-appointment.
MPs under the African Parliamentary Network against corruption including Manjiya County’s John Baptist Nambeshe and Kumi Municipality’s Silas Aogon presented three (3) petitions at a press conference, pushing for her reappointment to be overturned.
“These petitions object in the strongest terms, the reappointment or renewal of appointment of a one Justine Bagyenda,” said Nambeshe.
Mumba Kalifungwa Takes Helm at Stanbic Bank Uganda
Bagyenda’s controversial reappointment to FIA comes against the background of a recent Auditor General’s report that points out several gaps in the way, Bagyenda’s department mishandled the closure of several banks. The report was ordered by Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE).
The report, amongst other findings, reported that Bank of Uganda did not carry out an independent valuation of the assets and liabilities of sold banks as required by law; raising questions as to whether proper value for money was obtained during the sale. In the case of the defunct Crane Bank, the report also found out the Central Bank did not have complete details of assets and liabilities as well as the schedule of loans and the corresponding collateral transferred to dfcu. BoU also failed to justify the Shs200bn price for a bank whose assets were valued at Shs1.1 trillion.
“These petitions object in the strongest terms, the reappointment or renewal of appointment of a one Justine Bagyenda,” said Nambeshe.
The AG also found that on top of the “contentious