By Our Reporters
During the yesterday Monday cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Matia Kasaijja unsuccessfully tried to get the President direct COSASE chairman Abdul Katuntu to lock out the media at the ongoing Bank of Uganda inquiry. Arguing that the investors were increasingly becoming nervous doing business in Uganda after seeing the top echelons of the central bank being rolled in the mud on TV, Kasaijja suggested that the President uses his influence and reach out to Katuntu. In what took many by surprise, Museveni (who has always been known to be very sensitive on things that can erode investor confidence in our economy) was unusually indifferent in his response. He told ministers he had twice tried to prevail on Bank of Uganda on the matter of closed banks (he specifically referred to Crane Bank) and they never listened to him. “They were arrogant and proudly told me that their independence allows them to act that way. My concern was why don’t you give people chance to reform before closing down their banks? They said we must act because this Sudhir is a crook. I told them it was okay as long as it doesn’t affect confidence in our economy. They never listened to me and I was tired of being lectured about their independence,” Museveni reportedly said. He added that when the COSASE probe was about to start, he reached out to Katuntu who assured him they would act prudently and wouldn’t cross the red line by publicly discussing matters that can hurt the economy. “And now they already started their work and I don’t think there is anything that can be saved anymore. They are almost finishing.” Museveni reportedly said Katuntu’s probe is legally being done and it’s being directly supervised by the speaker of Parliament whom he doesn’t want to interfere with. He said the Katuntus must have agreed with their boss the Speaker on the dos and donts to avoid hurting the economy. “And by the way Honorable Kasaija why should any serious investor lose confidence in the economy when what those Katuntu people are doing is the right thing provided for in the law? They have been at it and my position is let them continue to the end.” Museveni reportedly argued that interfering with the committee work now by locking out the media will make the public to become more skeptical and conclude that there is something the NRM government is trying to cover up something whereas not. He said any perceived cover up politically wouldn’t be good for the NRM government which stands for transparency and open methods of work.
GWC Ruth Nankabirwa also chipped in saying since the Speaker is closely supervising the direction the probe is taking, getting the President to intervene will not only create an impression as if government is covering up and helping BoU bosses to get away with improper decision-making but will also create unnecessary friction between the President and the Speaker. “Hon colleagues it’s like this. The MPs on that committee seem to be unanimously agreed and interested in doing everything in the open and any interference by the executive will lead to unnecessary polarisis in the committee work,” Nankabirwa reportedly said. She also argued that being an opposition committee, there isn’t much the President can do to influence the way COSASE MPs do things. She said as the Chief Whip, she knows much more than she was comfortable saying regarding why it would be a terrible mistake trying to go to war with Rebecca Kadaga in any way at this moment in time. She advised Matia Kasaija and the two colleagues who supported him, to abandon their proposed interference because any such attempt would only complicate the relationship between Entebbe and the Speaker’s chambers. Kasaijja, who sources say appeared nervous and honestly concerned about the reservations he was raising, made his request (to gag COSASE) as part of his response to a cabinet paper that had just been presented. “This explains why not many ministers spoke on that matter because it wasn’t on the agenda. It’s something honorable Kasaijja just brought up in the middle of a related discussion,” says one of the cabinet sources we spoke to for this article. In the end, the President guided and (as expected) members agreed that the Katuntu committee (expected to be done by 14th December) be allowed to complete its work because even if anyone was to successfully intervene in their modus operandi, there isn’t much that can be saved anymore. “If it’s the damage my honorable colleague [Kasaijja] is talking about, it has already been done and there isn’t much remaining. Let them have the opportunity to finish their work without any executive interference and precedence will be set that nobody is beyond parliamentary scrutiny since even BoU, independent as it claims to be, has had to be publicly scrutinized,” said one of the ministers at the Monday cabinet discussion. For comments, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755.
