Yesterday, through chairperson Hon. Abdul Katuntu, the Committee on Commissions, State Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) presented its final report of the probe on Bank of Uganda’s controversial closure of seven commercial banks over the years.
Amongst the recommendations in the report, COSASE recommended BoU to compensate former shareholders of the banks that were closed, besides coughing the non-traced Shs270 billion injected into the liquidation of Crane Bank Limited.
However, government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo, the Director of Uganda Media Centre, is one of the many voices that have quickly come out to voice their disappointment with the recommendations COSASE has made, especially with regard to the BoU officials found guilty of doing things the wrong way.
Ofwono Opondo actually wants the recommendations revised, since they will directly affect the public when not revised, and he particularly wants to see the convicted BoU officials paying for their sins rather than having the Ugandan public pay for them.
“They are asking us the public to pay for the mistakes of the people we entrusted the power with. I think they should name people who have been guilty, and what exactly each one’s mistake was, then make those people to individually pay. “
Opondo further says that he thinks it was intentional of COSASE not to clearly name in its report the people they found guilty and what they were guilty of.
“I don’t want to believe that this was a mistake, why they’ve not mentioned people found guilty in the closure of banks, which they should do, I think it was deliberate,” Opondo added.
The government spokesperson also says that the lines of action recommended by COSASE on the guilty parties must not remain in writing just like the many other reports that have been presented in parliament, but rather immediate action must be taken because this will help streamline the works of government.