The\nBoard of Directors of Bank of Uganda (BoU) has blamed the difficulties faced by\nthe Central Bank on gaps in the Constitution. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Article\n161 (2) of the Constitution vests the authority of the Central Bank on the\nBoard. According to the law, the Chairperson of the Board is the Governor while\nthe Vice Chairperson is the Deputy Governor. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ndirectors of the Central Bank however, said that there is need to separate the\nrole of the board Chairperson from that of management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nproposal was made while the Board together with the Minister of Finance,\nPlanning and Economic Development, Hon Matia Kasaija, the Governor BoU and\nother officials appeared before the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities\nand State Enterprises (COSASE) on Friday, 08 January 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One\nof the Board members, Polycarp Kahooza warned that unless the roles are\nseparated, BoU will continue having difficulties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce\nyou have a Chairman of the Board who is also the Executive Director,\nadministration can be difficult. Right now, there are very many difficulties in\nBoU which stem from such gaps, \u201c Kahooza said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nrecommended that government borrows a leaf from the Central Bank of Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn\nKenya, the Governor deals purely with technical matters like management of\nmonetary policy, but general administration is done by the chairman of the\nboard who is not the head of the institution,\u201d said Kahooza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When\nasked by the MPs if the Board was aware of the process of closing banks,\nKahooza confirmed that the Board was\naware. He however, said that the board delegated the role of taking over of the\nbanks to management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe\nboard cannot have a meeting to discuss how to take over a bank. These are\ndangerous businesses that is why the board has to delegate taking over of\nbanks,\u201d said Kahooza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Board\nmember, Josephine Ossiya advised that whilst consideration is made to amend the\nConstitution to separate the role of the Governor from board chairperson, an\nimmediate intervention should be made. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\nsuggested that guidelines should be made which clearly state the decisions that\nthe Governor can make as Chief Executive Officer and those that he can take as\nchairman of the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow\nthat we have gone through this process, maybe it is time to rethink and improve\nthe operations and governance of the Central Bank. Indeed, we have seen the\ngaps and we need to address them,\u201d said Ossiya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MPs\nhowever, blamed the board for failing to perform and instead delegated its\nduties to the Governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Committee\nChairperson, Hon Abdul Katuntu suggested\nthat the power of the Board should be given to the Governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow\nthat you said that is not possible for the board to do some functions and\ndelegated to the Governor, can we take it away and give to the Governor such\nthat you wash yourselves off this that you cannot do,\u201d said Katuntu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nalso wondered if the Board was bothered by the fact that banks were closed and\nyet they (board members) did not have final reports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDoes\nit bother you that you have not demanded for a single final report of closed\nbanks and it takes Parliament 20 years later?\u201d said Katuntu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hon.\nMichael Tusiime (NRM, Mbarara Municipality) said that the manner in which the\nboard operated during the closure of the banks is questionable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf\nI was to appraise you, which parameters of performance would I hinge on. That\nyou are comfortably seated on the board and there is an unresolved matter for\nthe last 20 years,\u201d wondered Tusiime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matia Kasaija said that it was unfortunate\nthat BoU does not have final reports of all the closed banks. He said that it\nis a shortfall that must be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\nis a huge weakness and we shall demand officially in writing for these reports\nfrom BoU,\u201d said Kasaija.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
COSASE has been investigating the Auditor General\u2019s report on the closure of seven commercial banks by Bank of Uganda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parliamentary News<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Board of Directors of Bank of Uganda (BoU) has blamed the difficulties faced by the Central Bank on gaps in the Constitution. Article 161 (2) of the Constitution vests the authority of the Central Bank on the Board. According to the law, the Chairperson of the Board is the Governor while the Vice Chairperson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":8050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-8049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n