Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa has backed the move by the Bank of Uganda, rejecting the approval of a non-Ugandan as the Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic Bank Uganda.
According to Tayebwa, it was about time Uganda joined nations like Kenya and South Africa that ringfence such lucrative positions for their nationals, to protect Ugandan workers.
“Stanbic Bank was in the hands of a Ugandan, Patrick Mweheire, it performed very well. They brought in a female, young Ugandan lady, who also performed exceedingly very well. Now the question of bringing in a non-Ugandan to a bank which we entrusted our biggest assets and most of our money, you would ask yourself why?” he said.
“If Ugandans were performing badly, you would have an issue. No foreigner can go to Kenya and become a Managing Director of the Bank. In South Africa where Stanbic is coming from, there is no foreigner who is the Managing Director of any Bank, why Uganda?” he added.
He was responding to a matter of national importance by Paul Omara (Otuke County) who asked Parliament to back the decision by Bank of Uganda requiring Stanbic Bank Uganda to hire a Ugandan national as the next Chief Executive Officer to replace Anne Juuko, saying Uganda has people with qualifications to take up the job, other than having such a lucrative position to be given to a foreigner, yet the Bank plays a crucial role in Uganda’s financial sector.
“Normally, foreign nationals are normally recruited as long as there are no nationals in that particular country. Standard Bank Group and Stanbic Bank might not have explored opportunities of Ugandan capable of running that bank, but I believe they are there. Therefore, my request is for this House to associate ourselves with the position of the Central Bank that the Standard Bank Group and Stanbic Uganda’s board should explore opportunities for Uganda human resources to run Stanbic Bank,” said Omara.
Tayebwa said: “I want to support the Central Bank for rejecting the non-Ugandan who was nominated because when the Bank performs well, now they want to take it back themselves. Otherwise, let them give us a swap, let a Ugandan be the Managing Director in another country then they come here. Some of us support the central Bank, it was right to reject the foreigner to come and be.”
Last week, Samuel Frederick Mwogeza was appointed the interim Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic Bank Uganda. He replaced Anne Juuko who has been appointed to a regional role within the Standard Bank Group.
This came after BoU reportedly rejected the appointment of the CEO of Stanbic Bank Eswatini as Juuko’s replacement. It was not immediately why the Central Bank rejected the appointment.