The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Sudhir had also detailed how BoU’s mistakes were to blame for the closure of Crane Bank. Sudhir hoped the president would restrain the central bank officials from proceeding to sue him. On the other hand, the central bank officials hoped the president would get Sudhir to submit to their demands or give them a nod to proceed with the suit.
The central bank had launched a suit against Sudhir who it also accused of breaching a March 20 agreement that offered the tycoon immunity from prosecution as long as he paid BoU some $ 60 million to cover for the losses allegedly registered under Crane Bank.
In countering, Sudhir said he had met his end of the bargain as per that agreement by paying BoU some $8 million and giving them some 32 properties. But, he said, rather than also meet their end, BoU was now threatening to sue him. “ But isn’t your role to ensure a healthy financial sector and that businesses grow?” Museveni asked the BoU camp at some point, “So if that is your role, why don’t you find a way to resolve this?” In response, BoU officials reiterated the fraud allegations against Sudhir like how he had allegedly extracted $ 80 million from the bank.
As the two sided argued, President Museveni got frustrated and said that in Runyankole they say that when two parties fail to agree, they are left to fight. He warned that if the matter was not handled well, there would be consequences.
Up until this point, however, BoU still appeared on firm ground, according to insiders. But as is the case with GTB and other banks, the central bank appeared to falter when it came to selling Crane Bank. BoU officials blocked several investors, some of who met President Museveni in a bid to buy assets of Crane Bank.
As all these scandals continue to emerge, the questions many observers following the central bank saga is: how will President Museveni deal with the bank’s leadership crisis? Insiders say President Yoweri Museveni has toyed with the idea of firing the senior leadership, considered names of potential successors, and even used his handlers to guide the officials to step down and make his work easier.
As these reports have continued to circulate and fuel speculation, President Museveni has avoided publicly commenting about the central bank saga. But his recent comments about BoU and his decision to let parliament’s committee continue grilling central bank officials over the seven banks amidst growing concerns this exercise is eroding BoU integrity, might have lifted a lid on his plan for BoU officials.
Insiders say Museveni is now ready to pounce on BoU officials since they have been exposed publicly. According to this version, this is a trick in the President’s book that he has explained using an analogy of a disease that makes a person’s mouth stink. In the president’s local language Runyankore the disease is called ‘omuhembe’.
The president has in the past reportedly told those close to him that when a person close to you is suffering from this problem—omuhembe–, you do not chase them right away. Instead, you first let the mouth stink for everybody else such that by the time you act, everybody is wondering what took you so long.
The President has used this approach to fire former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, who he did not fire until there was a near revolt against him over his management of the ruling party secretariat. President Museveni also used it with for Police Chief Kale Kayihura. He started publicly talking about how Kayihura had allowed criminals to infiltrate the police. Indeed, by the time he fired Kayihura, the police chief’s image had been badly tarnished by failures or the crisis in police.
President Museveni also applied the same on Lt.Gen. Henry Tumukunde. He kept Tumukunde on the job until days before he fired him; he was being avoided by among others the Presidents handlers for being too controversial.
