State House team, BoU discuss Post Bank probe
Lt Col Edith Nakalema, the head of Anti-Corruption Unit at State House
What you need to know:
- Ms Jackie Kwesiga, the Post Bank senior manager in charge of marketing and communications, yesterday confirmed the investigations but said the operations are going on normally.
Kampala. State House will meet Bank of Uganda and Ministry of Finance to discuss ways of conducting smooth and thorough investigations into Post Bank without disrupting the bank’s operations.
The meeting will be held today at an undisclosed place and time.
Lt Col Edith Nakalema, the head of Anti-Corruption Unit at State House, raided Post Bank on Friday and retrieved documents to help in the ongoing investigations into alleged mismanagement of the finance institution.
“We are going to hold a meeting with Bank of Uganda, Ministry of Finance and the management of Post Bank to come up with a plan to enable the operations of the bank continue,” Lt Col Nakalema said in telephone interview yesterday.
She said a joint team of State House and CID detectives and officials from the Auditor General’s office spent several hours with Post Bank’s top officials over the matter on the day of the raid.
“We got credible information and held an investigative meeting for three hours and requested to access the offices where a search was conducted and we retrieved information,” Lt Col Nakalema said.
However, she did not name any official under investigated.
“We have just launched an investigation on particular individuals in top management. At some stage, the people under investigations will be brought to book,” she added.
The bank’s senior officials are being investigated for suspected abuse of office, but Lt Col Nakalema said the bank’s operations will continue uninterrupted.
Asked whether the investigation does not undermine the central bank’s role as the regulator of the banking sector, Mr Kelvin Kizito, the BoU’s acting director of communications, said: “Bank of Uganda is aware of and was consulted on the conduct of this investigation that is premised on allegations of abuse of office against some senior personnel of Post Bank.”
“This investigation has no bearing whatsoever on the ability of Post Bank, a well capitalised and prudentially compliant financial institution,” he added.
In an April 6 statement, Lt Col Nakalema said her team was investigating alleged abuse of office and a number of the bank’s senior personnel had been put under investigation.
The State House Anti-Corruption Unit said it was partnering with CID and the Auditor General’s office to carry out a special investigation into Post Bank’s head offices on Nkrumah Road.
Bank response
Ms Jackie Kwesiga, the Post Bank senior manager in charge of marketing and communications, yesterday confirmed the investigations but said the operations are going on normally. “There are investigations and as a government institution, we are cooperating. These are normal investigations but we are committed to continue serving our customers and it is business as usual,” Ms Kwesiga said.
