The call has been made by the deputy Governor Bank of Uganda Louis Kasekende while launching the Finscope 2018 Financial inclusion Survey at Kampala Serena Hotel. The survey showed that 22% of the country’s adult population is still financially excluded with no access to meaningful financial products and services.

Kasekende says that the formal financial institutions still have a limited reach and should consider using other avenues like agent banking to spread their services. He however cautions that efforts to promote financial inclusion should be accompanied by financial literacy to avoid a risk of people drowning in debt. He further warned people seeking loans from financial institutions against contracting debts which exceed their capacity to pay.

Deputy Governor Bank of Uganda, Louis Kasekende called for the broadening of financial services as an effort to lay strategies beyond financial inclusion

Despite great strides in Uganda’s effort to deepen financial access, a number of inequalities continue undermining full inclusion. The Finscope 2018 Financial inclusion Survey launched today by the Financial Sector Deepening Uganda showed 13 million of Ugandans regard children’s education as the costliest life cycle event hence forcing them to save for their children educational costs.

It also indicateed that 46% of Ugandan of adult age do not save mainly because they have no money left after covering expenses.

The survey report said that 5 million Ugandan adults save informally with saving groups  and 3.4 million save with formal financial institutions like mobile phones ,commercial banks ,SACCOs or micro finance institutions

2.3 million Ugandan keep their money on mobile phones and 2.7 million keep their savings in cash at home.

According to the Finscope Uganda 2018 report, the percentage of the adult population with access to formal financial services has more than doubled since 2006.

It also  showed that geographical inequalities have undermined this inclusion with 25% of the urban population excluded in comparison with 14% of their urban counterparts.

Speaking at the launch in Kampala, FSDU programs manager Rashmi Pillai underscored the need to address these inequalities if the Universal financial Inclusion target of 2022 is to be realized.

She says accessibility to and usage of formal financial services can contribute to inclusive economic growth.

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While releasing April monetary police statement today, the governor bank of Uganda Prof. Tumusiime Mutebire said that Uganda’s economic growth is projected to grow by 6.5% in the next three years.

He said that this positive development is premised on the external scenarios, strong private and public investment, improved agriculture and others

He however said that despite all this private sector credit has remained week thus affecting future investments.

Consequently bank of Uganda has maintained central bank rate at 9% to counter current inflation especially annual headline inflations which now stands at 2%.

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Auditor-General Edward Ouko

The Auditor General has started carrying out an in-depth audit over the bankruptcy of defunct banks taken over bank of uganda.

This came after the parliamentary committee on commissions, statutory Authorities and state enterprises told the Auditor general to interest its self in carrying out a special audit in the processes of defunct bank take over by bank of Uganda.

READ: BOU officials grilled over hiring external lawyers to battle court cases

A number of Banks have been dissolved by the Central Bank which includes Crane bank, Cooperative bank, Green land bank, International credit bank, Global trust bank, Nile bank and National bank of commerce.

This was revealed by the committee Chairperson and Bugweri County Member of Parliament (MP), Abdul Katuntu during a committee interface with the officials from Bank of Uganda led by the Deputy Governor, Louis Kasekende.

 The Bank of Uganda officials were appearing before the committee expects this report within 90 days.

Katuntu said that the audit should cover aspects of cost of liquidation, assets, liabilities and the status of all the defunct banks.

He said that as a committee had realized that Bank of Uganda has never accounted to any institution about that process of liquidation of defunct banks.

Katuntu said that the defunct banks were public institutions which had a lot of securities which were liquidated.

Katuntu further revealed that audit is going to be married by another audit to find out what has led to the collapse of the defunct banks.

ALSO READ: Bank of Uganda’s accountability of 200bn shillings questioned by Parliament

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MP Abdu Katuntu

Members of Parliament sitting on the Committee Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises have demanded liquidation and non-performing assets status reports of the defunct banks.

The five defunct banks include Cooperative bank, Green land bank, International credit bank, Global trust bank and National bank of commerce.

The committee chaired by Abdul Katuntu noted that although some reports of these defunct banks were given to the committee, those for Global trust bank and the National bank of commerce are missing among the submitted reports for the respective banks.

MPs also want Bank of Uganda to provide an imprest report at the closure of these Banks by Governor Bank of Uganda, Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile.

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MP Abdu Katuntu

The Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises queried the expenditure of Bank of Uganda during this year’s 50 years celebrations.

MPs while interfacing with the Bank of Uganda officials led by the Governor, Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebire, said during the procurement of items and services for Bank of Uganda celebrations of 50 years there procurements found necessary that were done outside the normal procurements raising questions from MPS why they were not done in normal way.

MPS on the committee chaired by Bugweri County MP, Abdul Katuntu, are querying the procurement of pens for the Bank of Uganda celebration at 100 dollars each.

On look of the pen MPs are suspicious that were designed in the US and made in china and are considering handing over some of the pens to Auditor general for purposes of authentication.

MPS are also questioning the accountability of 700 million shillings   used by Bank of Uganda for school challenge, 100 million shillings paid for a cocktail and 144 million shillings paid for accommodation for the guests who came for the celebrations.

The committee also directed bank of Uganda officials to submit to the committee all the 154 internal audit reports and 17 tender contracts since 2014 to 2016 for scrutiny.

The committee allocates three days scrutiny of Bank of Uganda over internal audits and tender contracts to ensure proper accountability of the funds.

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Business tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia

The Commercial Court has given Bank of Uganda and Business tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia 60 days within which to amicably settle their differences, failure of which the case file will be forwarded to a Judge for hearing.

On Tuesday this week, the Head of this Court Justice David Wangutusi appointed city lawyer Harriet Magala from Kituuma Magala and company advocates as an arbitrator in this case, where Bank of Uganda accuses Sudhir of siphoning over 700 billion shillings from Crane Bank.

However according to Court Registrar in-charge of mediation matters, Vincent Emmy Mugabo, mediation in this case cannot start unless all the necessary documents and evidence is filed in court by the two warring parties.

He explained that there is a counter claim filed by Sudhir against Bank of Uganda and Crane Bank that has not been responded to by the Central Bank.

Mugabo also elaborated   on the mediation process that is now a practice in all civil matters, having been enrolled in courts as an Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism, mainly to clear case backlog and maintaining relationship between parties.

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Rotary International President Elect Sam Owori (in a red necktie) just two weeks ago as we launched the #RotaryCR17.

Last Friday evening was one of the darkest days to the Ugandans and World of Rotary International following news of the death of the late Samuel Frobisher Owori, a Ugandan who was months away from becoming the second African to head one of the most successful humanitarian movements- Rotary International. Owori had on October 1, 2016 been nominated as the next 108^th Rotary International president (2018-2019) with his term office to have started by July 1, 2018.  Owori died on Friday aged years old with post-operative complications from planned surgery in the US.

Government has already announced that a state funeral will be accorded to this gallant son who served humanity with all delegeance

JOVIAL

Many have described him  as a jovial and humble man who was also approachable to discuss solutions to a given problem.

“I didn’t know Sam before though I had heard about him. I had a rare moment of meeting him some weeks back when we traveled together on a plane from the United States of America. He was a man full of humor. He narrated to us how he got to work with Bank of Uganda during Amin’s time with no appointment letter but just a newspaper article that announced his appointment,” says Abdu Katuntu, Bugweri North MP while speaking last Saturday during the Capital Gang Radio Talk show on Capital FM.

“I waited for over 2 weeks for me to get my appointment letter for the job to no avail. I decided to walk to Bank of Uganda and on arrival, I was told they we indeed expecting me. They showed me my office and that very afternoon, I did not go back to UCB,” he said amidst laughter, as they traveled the 15 hours journey to Entebbe from Dallas in the United states, adding, “I never received my appointment letter until the time I left Bank of Uganda,” said Katuntu of how the departed Owori narrated one of his life’s journeys.

Katuntu said the country has lost a very resourceful person who would have been an ambassador for the country.

DEDICATED

Rotary President-elect Sam F. Owori died Thursday.

When he was nominated Rotary International president last year, Owori clearly outlined his vision while pointing out critical areas where he wanted Rotary International to handle as priority once he assumed office. According to media reports, like he had grown membership in Uganda, Owori had said he wanted to grow membership database in Africa and he had set a target of having one million people joining the organization in Africa, whose population is estimated at about 1.2 billion people.

During his tenure as district governor in Uganda, the number of clubs swelled from nine to 89 over a course of 29 years.

Such was Owori; always humane and dedicated to the work of improving the lives of especially the vulnerable members of society. He lived with the true meaning of the Rotary International (RI) statement “Service Above Self” by indeed serving humanity the best possible way he could. He has been a member of the Rotary Club of Kampala for 38 years. Since he joined the Rotarian family in 1978, Owori had served several roles in the club from regional Rotary foundation coordinator, regional RI membership coordinator, RI representative to the United Nations Environment Programme and UN-Habitat, as well as RI director.

It is during the time he served as district governor in Uganda that the number of clubs swelled more than ever before.He also chaired several humanitarian committees within Rotary including International PolioPlus committee, the Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force, the Audit Committee, Rotary Foundation’s finance committee and a trustee of Rotary Foundation.Owori and wife, Norah, were benefactors of the Rotary Foundation and major donors and Paul Harris Fellows.

NEWS OF HIS DEATH
Many people especially the Rotarian family in Uganda received his death news with a lot of shock. “We had agreed that next week he would be on Desert Island Disc a TalkShow on Capital FM radio,” wrote Journalist Simon Kasyate on a friend’s Facebook page.

“Our own is no more may his soul rest in internal peace,” read another post from UsherWilson Owere, the Secretary National Association of Trade Unions (NATU) in Uganda. It is absurd for our country.

REMINISCE

For a moment, some people thought someone was playing the silly social media pranks about deaths of prominent people which are common nowadays. However, confirmation was later made through article on the Rotary International website that confirmed Owori’s passing on.

It was at this point that it turned out it was no joke of sought to many who had first got the news through social media. The news was unbelievable because he often looked so healthy with a lot of vigour while attending one function after another.

EXCELLENCE

President Yoweri Museveni held talks with Rotary International president, late Sam Owori, at State House Entebbe

Being part of rotary activities for over 38 years comes with attributes for a man who had passion for what he did- serving humanity with a passion. As a retired public servant, he was evidently a firm and resolute leader who yawned perfection having risen through humble beginnings to high positions of responsibilities in Uganda Commercial Bank (UCB), Bank of Uganda among others.

Owori once admitted that he wore his first pair of shoes while joining senior secondary school. “Our further was a chief and we were fairly off but he wanted us to look like the rest of the children who were going to school barefooted. He never wanted us to think of short cuts in life but rather focus on hard work as the ultimate path to success,” Owori said in his interview as Rotary International president-elect late last year.

“Rotary has become a way of life for me – with the intrinsic value and core belief in mutual responsibility and concern for one another as a cornerstone,” Sam said when he was nominated last year. “I feel immense satisfaction knowing that through Rotary, I’ve helped someone live better.”

HOSPITAL
Reports indicate that he died from post surgery complications after he had sought medical help for a leg problem. It is said his blood pressure went low and efforts to save him proved futile.

TEAM BUILDING

He always made his team work together to achieve results.

Sam saw in Rotary members “an incredible passion to make a difference,” and wanted to “harness that enthusiasm and pride so that every project becomes the engine of peace and prosperity,” reads a statement of the Rotary International website.

GREAT LOSS
As a country this great loss given that as Rotary International president, he was destined to carry the Uganda flag high. Given also that he had been nominated as the second African to hold such an office, many issues were set to be addressed like using the various connections to bring valuable investment opportunities to Uganda.

“Please remember Sam as the outstanding, hard-working Rotarian he was,” said Rotary International President Ian Riseley. “In this difficult time, I ask you to keep his wife, Norah, the Owori family and Sam’s millions of friends around the world in your thoughts

“Sam was a special person in so many ways, and his unexpected death is a huge loss to Rotary, his community and the world,” Riseley said. “In addition, we are establishing details on plans to celebrate his life as they become available.”

Rotary is establishing a memorial fund in Sam’s honor and will provide further details soon.

Oworis body is expected in the country this Saturday, July 22, 2017 and he will be laid to rest in his ancestral district of Tororo on a date to be disclosed soon.

Fare thee well, great son of Uganda.

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Sudhir who is believed to be the richest Ugandan.

Bank of Uganda last week took over the management of crane Bank amidst confusion on who actually is in charge of the embattled financial institution owned by tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia.

Earlier during the week, Bank of Uganda had assured the public that nothing was wrong at the Bank which is famous for winning international excellence awards in the banking sector.

In a statement from the central Bank, the central Bank revoked section 87-1 and 88-1 of the financial institutions act 2004 to take the decision.

The statement issued by the Governor of the Central Bank, Tumusiime Mutebile also suspended the Board of directors of crane Bank.

Crane bank that was last week taken over by Bank of Uganda.

However, the central Bank maintained that none of the staff of the bank would be affected.

Mutebile said all staff members under a new arrangement of supervision by the Central Bank will continue with the bank’s management and has asked the staff to corporate so as to have the Bank continue running normally under new management.

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This comes at the time when many parts of the country is experiencing drought which is likely to last until the end of this year, according to weather experts.

Tumusime Mutebile Bank of Uganda.

While releasing the monitory policy statement for October  2016, the governor bank of Uganda, Prof Emanuel Tumusiime Mutebire, said that in the last month food inflation has jumped from -1.9% to 5.1%.

He explained that the major cause of this is the current drought that is affecting planting season and subsequently harvesting of food that has been extremely poor in most parts of the country.

He however, said that the trend is likely to change if rains start in the near future.

Meanwhile annual headline and core inflation declined to 4.1% and 4.2% in September respectively from 4.8% and 5% in august prompting bank of Uganda to lower central bank rate to 13% from the previous 14%.

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Mulago hospital’s Executive Director Dr. Byarugaba Baterana

This was during the committee sitting where the hospital Executive Director, Dr. Byarugaba Baterana among other officials appeared to answer queries in the Auditor General’s report of 2013/14.

According to the report, the hospital failed to declare a tune of 1.2bn shillings as receivable from private patients.

Among the companies mentioned to have not paid their bills even after their patients had received treatment include Vision group, Bank of Uganda, Sheraton Hotel, parliament, ministry of Defense among others.

The Committee Chairperson whose is also MP Soroti district, Angelina Ossege blamed the hospital management for letting such high profiled entities consume services they don’t pay for yet this is not the case when it comes to handling the peasants.

The Auditor General notes that by the hospital’s failure to declare these receivables, it might lead to inappropriate accountability in case this money is paid at any time because of absence of any records.

Meanwhile, the hospital Executive Director Dr. Byarugaba Baterana threw MPs into laughter when he sympathised with the mentioned companies that they didn’t have money to pay the bills by the time of audit and they could not be denied services.

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