Parliament has given its thoughts on the Bank of Uganda’s statement to reject the appointment of a non-Ugandan as the new Chief Executive Officer for Stanbice Bank.
The Stanbic Bank Board of Directors recently chose the CEO of Stanbic Bank Eswatini in Southern Africa to take over for Anne Juuko, who got a new job overseeing Global Markets for East Africa in the Standard Bank Group.
During a Parliament meeting, Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa wondered why Uganda’s top bank picked a non-Ugandan to lead it when previous Ugandan CEOs did a good job.
Tayebwa thinks the Central Bank was right to say no to the new CEO because there are Ugandans who can run the bank well, just like the previous CEOs did.
“Stanbic Bank had a Ugandan CEO, Patrick Mweheire, and it did great. Then they hired Anne Juuko, a young Ugandan woman, and she did great too,” Tayebwa said.
“Why would we let someone who isn’t Ugandan run our biggest bank where we keep our money? That’s the big question. If Ugandans were doing badly, then it might make sense to bring in someone else,” he said.
This was in response to what Otuke County lawmaker, Paul Omara, brought up.
Omara pointed out that Uganda has worked hard to train its people, so there are plenty of Ugandans who can run companies like Stanbic Bank.
“Usually, if there aren’t enough locals who can do the job, they hire foreigners. But we’ve improved a lot in banking, and we have capable people,” Omara said.
The Deputy Speaker agreed, saying it’s important for Parliament to support the Central Bank’s decision to put Ugandans in charge of banks. He said other countries like Kenya and South Africa do the same thing.
“Every bank has to tell the Central Bank who will take over if the boss leaves. In Kenya or South Africa, foreigners can’t just become bank bosses. Why should Uganda be any different?” he asked.
Juuko, who recently got a new job overseeing Global Markets in the Standard Bank Group, did a lot of good things while leading Uganda’s biggest bank, especially during the tough times of COVID-19.
When she started in March 2020, the bank’s assets were worth 6.7 trillion shillings. By June 2023, they had grown to 9.4 trillion shillings. The bank’s value also went up from 1.33 trillion to 1.6 trillion shillings.
But Tayebwa wasn’t convinced by Stanbic Bank’s explanation that they have lots of Ugandans in top positions regionally, like Juuko and the person before her, Patrick Mweheire.
“They say they have many Ugandans in high positions, but we need bosses. I support the Central Bank for saying no to a non-Ugandan,” he said.
Tayebwa said after Ugandans did such a good job running the bank, now the owners want to take control again.
“This is our biggest bank. If they trust us, they should have a Ugandan boss because we have capable people. Why say one thing to the Central Bank and then do something else?” he asked.
The Minister for Public Service, Wilson Mukasa Muruli, said it’s normal to hire foreigners when locals can’t do the job well. He praised the Central Bank for saying no to a foreigner running Uganda’s biggest bank.
Stanbic Bank Uganda has named Samuel F. Mwogeza as its temporary boss and Barbara Dokoria as the temporary executive director until they find permanent replacements. They start on April 1, 2024.
