Insurance Regulatory Authority opposes merger with BoU

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Chief Executive Officer of the Insurance Regulatory Authority has vehemently opposed government proposal to merge it with Bank of Uganda.

Ibrahim Lubega Kaddunabbi says while the idea of rationalizing government agencies is not bad, the method was wrong citing lack of consultation as an example.

Kaddunabbi made the remarks while contributing to debate on rationalization of government agencies at a public dialogue organized by Makerere University Business School Economic Forum and Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung, a German political think-tank.

According to the proposal, Insurance Regulatory Authority is supposed to become a small unit under the Bank of Uganda, which also regulates bancassurance.

Kaddunabbi says the process is flawed because cabinet has made a big decision without engaging those affected.

Kaddunabbi says he wonders if one of the reasons for rationalization is a strain on the Consolidated Fund why the insurance regulator has been included among agencies to collapse yet it is profitable.

Kaddunabbi proposes that the rationalization exercise be withdrawn and replaced with a more consultative one.

In response, Patrick Birungi, the Director of Development Planning in the National Planning Authority, says there are some strategic decisions that government has to take with little or no consultation, like the rationalization exercise.

Kaddunabbi becomes the second chief executive of an affected government agency to comment publicly on the government move. The first was Allen Kagina, the head of Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA.