In tweet this Sunday afternoon, President Yoweri Museveni has appointed Dr. Micheal Atingi-Ego as the new Deputy Bank of Uganda Governor and forwarded his name to Parliament for vetting.
Museveni’s appointment comes just two days after the Bank of Uganda Board of Directors had appointed Dr Adam Mugume the Deputy Governor in acting capacity. Mugume has been serving as BoU’s Executive Director, Research and Policy.
The board’s decision arose out of a power vacuum at BoU as Governor Tumusiime Mutebile was hospitalized. The Deputy Governor job fell vacant after Dr. Louis Kasekende contract ran out in January and wasn’t renewed.
Who is Dr Atingi?
Michael Atingi-Ego has been serving as the MEFMI Executive Director based in Nairobi Kenya since 2018.
The Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI) is a regionally owned institute currently with 14 member countries:
Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Atingi is a seasoned economic policy official who has served in several capacities at various institutions. He obtained his first degree from Makerere University and later proceeded for post graduate studies in the United Kingdom where he got a master’s degree from the Cardiff Business School, University of Wales and a PhD from Liverpool University.
He started his career at the Bank of Uganda rising through the ranks to become the Executive Director, Research. In 2008 he took up an assignment with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as Deputy Director of the African Department (AFR).
With Mutebile’s contract expiring in January 2021 and not expected to be renewed owing to his ill health, Atingi could be in line for the top job at the central bank.