By our reporter
Following a recent standoff between the Inspector General of Government (IGG) Irene Mulyagonja and Bank of Uganda Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile over disputed senior staff changes at the financial institution, President Yoweri Museveni has decided to intervene by ordering the IGG to stop attacking BoU boss.
Mr Museveni made the directive during his meeting with Mutebile and Mulyagonja at State House Entebbe on Monday.
According to Chimpreports, an online news site, the Ugandan president told Mulyagonja to stop attacking the governor in the media, expressing discomfort with her threats to cause Mutebile’s arrest.
“This is not good for the institution. Keep this between yourselves. You can’t conduct an investigation in the media,” sources privy to the meeting, say.
Mr Mutebile reshuffled Bank of Uganda senior staff on February 7, but some staff including Justine Bagyenda, the executive director for commercial banks supervision, refused to hand over office to the newly appointed Dr. Tumubwine Twinemanzi. Twinemanzi was head hunted from Uganda Communications Commission.
The changes, which affected 13 directors, 24 assistants directors and four lower-level staff, were also contested by staff, who petitioned the IGG, urging her to cast a torch on the procedural mechanisms that shaped the Governor’s decision.
The aggrieved staff at Bank of Uganda also called for a wider investigation into Mutebile’s management style, describing the recent changes as “illegal” and thin on the known Bank of Uganda recruitment procedure.
The IGG responded to the petition by ordering Mutebile to halt the staff changes until investigations are concluded.
This caused a stir within the central bank, with Mutebile stating in his March 19 letter to the IGG that her “investigation is redundant”.
He said Bank of Uganda is not subject to the direction or control of any person or authority and therefore no outsider, including the IGG office can interfere with the decision of the Central Bank.
In a further response, the IGG vowed to continue investigating Bank of Uganda and also threatened to cause the arrest of the governor.
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