Now Mutebile calls for Ezra’s arrest

Trouble for tycoon Michael Ezra Mulyoowa is not about to end as the number of people who want him behind bars seems to increase by the day.

The latest call for Ezra’s incarceration comes from the Governor of the Central Bank, Mr Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile, who says the elusive businessman, should be behind bars for flashing around money whose source cannot be explained.

At a press conference called last month in Kampala to respond to claims that he owed the Uganda Revenue Authority Shs1.1b in taxes, Ezra flashed crisp 100 American Dollar bills that he said amounted to three million dollars. The stunt was to prove that he is no broke man.

But in an interview with the Daily Monitor on Wednesday, Governor Mutebile said he does not understand where anybody can get the confidence to flash around money whose source is only known to himself.

“That man should be arrested immediately,” Mr Mutebile said. “It is not proper to flash that kind of money yet its source is unknown.”

Mr Mutebile, however, said it is not against the law to move around with that kind of money, stressing that his contention is the source of the money. He also found it strange for that kind of money to be carried around in bags rather than being kept in the bank.

Last eight years
For the last eight years, since his emergence on the national scene, Ezra’s source of wealth has never been understood, leaving many to only speculate on how he funds his showy lifestyle and generous bail out to mainly the sports sector.

Meanwhile, in the last couple of weeks police have secured two court orders seeking to arrest Ezra for allegedly issuing a false Shs800m cheque to IT consultant Frank Katusiime and Dr. Charles Mushabe.

Ezra is also wanted in court over issuing a false cheque worth $123,000 to Geoffrey Kiryowa, a director of MITTCO International.