Scribe petitions court over BOU appointment

A journalist has petitioned court, challenging the appointment of Dr Twinemanzi Tumubweine as the Bank of Uganda (BOU) executive director in charge of supervision, saying the move was tainted with illegality.

The petitioner, Arnold Anthony Mukose, is the secretary for media safety and human rights at the Uganda Journalists Association (UJA).

Mukose sued Dr Twinemanzi alongside the Attorney General and BOU at the Civil Divison of the High Court.

He is seeking a declaration that Twinemanzi's continued employment at BOU is illegal and continues to be tainted with irrationality, procedural impropriety and unfairness.

He alleges that the Inspector General of Government (IGG) directed BOU board of directors not to ratify any actions or decisions taken by the governor on or around February 7, 2018, in relation to the impugned appointments and transfers, until such a time as the investigations by the inspectorate has been concluded or until the office directs otherwise.

Court documents indicate that the investigations have never been completed and the IGG has not issued any other directives to BOU.

He says the allegations against the impugned appointments were also investigated by a tripartite committee set up by President Yoweri Museveni.

The committee found that Twinemanzi did not have the requisite academic requirements and work experience for the job of the executive director, supervision.

"The tripartite committee also concluded that the governor did not have delegated authority from the board of directors of BOU to make the impugned staff appointments and transfers," reads part of the court documents.

The journalist further states that to be qualified as an executive director supervision, one needs a certain set of skills, which are unique in the sense that the financial sector regulation and supervision requires tried-and-tested experience, not basic academic qualifications and experience in non-financial institutions.

Mukose claims that the findings of the presidential tripartite committee have never been challenged or set aside.

"The recruitment of Twinemanzi was done when there was no provision for head hunting," Mukose adds.