The Central Bank governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile has reiterated that there was no extra consignment containing printed money besides that which was officially sanctioned by the bank. Notably, Mutebile made this statement during the presentation of the June monitory policy statement, where the bank held the rate at 10.0% for the fourth time now.
“I simply said that it was an anomaly in the sense that the plane came along with 20 pallets and additionally five crates (that were not ours). The 20 pallets were consigned” Mutebile said. In addition, he urged media to ignore rumors citing that there was extra money printed. Mutebile’s comments come after government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo refuses to acknowledge an investigation by police in relation to the unfolding currency scandal at Bank of Uganda.
Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson told journalists yesterday that they were investigating allegations that additional money was printed and smuggled into the country. The figure that has been thrown about is Shs 90 billion.
However, the government through Ofwono Opondo, the executive director of Uganda Media Centre said they were not aware of any investigations regarding this money. I disagree with Fred Enanga’s statement about investigations in relation to the extra cargo of 90 billion, Ofwono said. Additionally, Ofwono said that the government now wants Enanga to put the record straight. “we are asking the police to correct the statement (that there is an investigation over 90 billion)” Ofwono added that the government is only investing for the extra boxes on the plane that contained equipment for testing blood. They want to know how the boxes got on the plane.