KAMPALA – The dfcu Bank board is negotiating with Housing Finance Bank Managing Director Mathias Katamba to take over the reigns at the troubled financial institution, industry sources have intimated to this online newspaper.
Mr Katamba, a seasoned bank executive is being sought after to replace Mr Juma Kisaame, who is due to leave the dfcu Bank under a cloud, following shareholder troubles after the takeover of Crane Bank, a transaction that has put the bank in the spotlight.
“The board has approved Mr. Katamba as the as their choice of the next MD,” a source said Wednesday evening.
Executives were tightlipped about the latest developments, choosing to offer no comment.
The development is bound to unsettle Mr. William Sekabembe, the number two in the hierarchy of the dfcu Bank, who weeks ago, declined a lucrative offer to take over the position of Managing Director at KCB bank, citing personal reasons.
In a September 5 letter to the head of human resources at KCB bank, Mr Sekabembe, who is the Chief of Business & Executive Director at dfcu Bank, a job he took over in October 2016 said he had changed his mind about moving to the competitor and will stay put at the troubled dfcu Bank, which is in the storm of the eye following the controversial takeover of Crane Bank in January 2017.
“Despite the very encouraging upward mobility described within the organisation, I think it would be in my best interest to remain employed in my current position at dfcu Bank for private reasons,” Mr. Sekabembe said in his decline letter.
Mr. Sekabembe had been positioned to replace dfcu Managing Director Mr. Juma Kisaame, who has since come under fire following the botched up takeover of the Crane Bank, that has been faulted by the Auditor General.
Mr Kisaame found himself in the spotlight for his role in the takeover of Crane Bank after directors accused him of not carrying out enough due diligence, an issue that has caused turmoil in the running of the bank and unrest among its shareholders.
The last few months have seen CDC Group Plc, the bank’s second majority shareholder seek to sell their shares. Shortly after the CDC announcement, Deepak Malik, the CEO of Arise B.V; dfcu’s majority shareholder also resigned from the board.
