Parliament asks Auditor General to go after the culprits in Crane Bank sale
The Auditor General John Muwanga will conduct a deeper forensic audit into the sale of Crane Bank by the central bank, a decision some analysts have already deemed controversial.
The audit has been ordered by the parliamentary committee on Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) after President Museveni met officials from Bank of Uganda and from the Inspectorate of Government last week.
The State House meeting was attended by Abdu Katuntu, the MP for Bugweri who chairs COSASE.
Gloria Namugera, a spokesperson in the office of the Audit General confirmed the forensic investigation.
“All those issues will be captured in our report to Parliament. The audit will be within the confines of the law. The National Audit Act is very clear on the mandate of the Auditor General. We will analyse the new issues and see how to incorporate them in the expanded audit into bank of Uganda,” she said.
Crane Bank was sold to DFCU in January last year after central bank said the local bank had been mismanaged.
DFCU reported a profit of Shs 127 billion last week.
According to the terms of the investigations, Muwanga will look into the sale agreement, which some analysts say is riddled with loopholes.
For instance, Muwanga will look into allegations that Crane Bank's assets worth Shs 1.3 trillion were given to DFCU at Shs 200 billion.
He will also scrutinise the audit report done by PriceWaterHouseCoopers, an international audit firm, on which the sale of Crane Bank was partly based.
However we have also been told that the investigations will be widened to include other banks which were closed by central bank such as Greenland Bank and International Credit Bank.
Last week after swearing in as Jinja East MP, Paul Mwiru, the former vice chairperson of the Parliamentary Accounts Committee said parliament will ask Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, the governor Bank of Uganda, to account for all the money sunk into the revival of Crane Bank.
"The governor said the bank was recapitalised for Shs 200 billion but we hear up to Shs 600 billion of taxpayer's money could have been used in the deal. We want him to come with full accountability and clear the air," Mwiru said.
