Tomorrow, Monday 13th January 2020 is supposed to be Bank of Uganda Deputy Govenor Dr. Loius Kasekende’s last day at work – unless his contract is renewed. He has lobbied to meet the appointing authority President Yoweri Museveni since November and he has been unsuccessful.
Kasekende has pulled all stops to have the President renew his contract. He had Finance Minister Matia Kasaija write to the president, requesting that the contract is renewed and he even penned a dossier on why he should get more time at BoU.
Kasekende spent his Christmas in Kabale lobbying Keith Muhakanizi the Secretary to the Treasury to “put for him in a word to the President.”
The latest move has seen Kasekende pull his “Muganda Catholic” card, because he is aware sometimes the President offers positions of influence for regional balance. News reaching us is that Kasekende has enlisted Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga to lobby for the contract renewal.
Word reaching us is that the two have on two separate occasions tried to meet President Museveni but they have been unsuccessful.
Why Kasekende is dying for a contract renewal
61-year-old Kasekende’s ultimate goal is to be the Governor of Bank of Uganda. The contract of current Governor Tumusiime Mutebile will come to an end in January 2021 and will most unlikely not be renewed. 70-year-old Mutebile has been at the helm of BoU for close to 20 years. His current tenure has also been dotted with spells of ill health.
Kasekende was for long looked at as Mutebile’s replacement. Now he is so near yet so far. Failure to renew his contract means he will kiss the central bank goodbye.
Scandal after scandal
In trying to hope against hope that his contract will be renewed even at the last minute, Kasekende is perhaps stubbornly refusing to read the signs. It should be noted that these contracts are usually renewed a month before they expire. In December 2015, Mutebile’s contract was renewed before its January 2016 expiry date, but Kasekende is still waiting for word from “the appointing authority” just hours to the expiry of his current contract.
Kasekende has presided over an institution that has received its more than fair share of bad press with scandal after scandal. First, it appears that Kasekende on several occasions independent of his boss and the central bank is split in two camps. In fact during the Crane Bank take over scandal, Mutebile passed the buck of the irregularities in the takeover to then Executive Director Commercial Bank Supervision Justine Bagyenda. It is understood Bagyenda was in camp with Kasekende.
Both an Auditor General’s report and Parliament probe on the sale and takeover of seven commercial banks pointed to irregularities, collusion and corruption among BoU officials and beneficiaries of the take overs.
On the heels of that was the scandal of a cargo plane chartered to fly in new currency notes arriving at Entebbe with more pallets than expected. It was reported that BoU officials had printed more cash for their own benefit. It turned out the pallets belonged to several businessmen. The contents of the pallets are still questionable and even then, procurement procedures were flouted.
For President Museveni, biding his time and waiting for Kasekende’s contract to expire could have been the most diplomatic way to get him out. The President is mute on contract renewal and Kasekende is still waiting. The two months wait has now been reduced to just hours. Perhaps he should begin clearing his desk instead.