President Museveni has ordered an investigation into reports that hackers stole billions of shillings from Bank of Uganda.
The orders were handed to the Auditor General’s office which will work closely with other investigative agencies.
“It is true, President Museveni instructed the Auditor General to investigate the matter,” said a dependable source who preferred anonymity to speak freely.
“The Auditor General will establish the amount of money lost in the hacking and then police will follow up on where there is criminal liability.”
Reports indicate that the heist occurred recently with money being wired to foreign countries in Asia and Europe.
The Bank of Uganda is yet to issue a statement on the matter.
Efforts to obtain a comment from the central bank’s management were yet to bear fruit.
ChimpReports has emailed BOU’s communications department for a response.
Nevertheless, sources say the investigation is in high gear with top officials to be questioned by police and the Auditor General.
Scandals in procurement
The sources further said President Museveni was informed of “unscrupulous behaviour within the procurement department of the central bank which became clear to suppliers during the procurement process of the Bank of Uganda National Payments Switch (BNPS) in 2023.”
The central bank has in recent years been plagued by scandals including theft of old currency notes by its officials.
Earlier this year, the Anti-Corruption Court in Nakasero sentenced Charles Kasede Ochieng, former Head of Verification at the Bank of Uganda (BoU), to three years in prison for abusing his position to steal old currency notes meant for destruction.
The footage presented by the prosecution showed Ochieng carefully looking around before pocketing old currency notes intended for disposal.
He was seen placing bundles of money into his pocket and discreetly walking away. The court determined that these actions violated his role, classifying it as an arbitrary abuse of his official position.
President Museveni has yet to appoint a new Governor since the death of Emmanuel Mutebile in January 2022.
