KAMPALA — Bank of Uganda (BoU) Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile is fighting for his life at Nakasero Hospital in Kampala where he was admitted early this week, PML Daily has learnt.
Mutebile, who has been in and out of hospital since 2015, is in such a poor health condition that he is not expected to return to office soon.
Visitors to the Governor at the hospital have been restricted, a health worker at the hospital told this website last evening.
His poor health condition on Friday prompted BoU Board of Directors to appoint Dr Adam Mugume, the current BoU Director of Research, as the acting Deputy Governor so that there was a substantial person to make decisions and avoid leaving a leadership vacuum.
Sources have intimated to PML Daily that the Governor’s poor health forced President Museveni to appoint Dr Michael Atingi-Ego the new deputy governor of Bank of Uganda, replacing Dr Louis Kasekende whose contract ran out in January this year.
The President announced the appointment on his social media pages on Sunday, March 29, adding that the appointee awaits vetting by Parliament.
Much as Dr Ating-Ego had been on Museveni’s list of potential appointments, he had not been in a rush to appoint him at this time when the country is struggling to contain Coronavirus pandemic.
However, with the central bank lacking a potential decision maker in the face of coronavirus pandemic, the President had to act.
Dr Ating-Ego is currently the Deputy Executive Director of International Monetary Fund – Africa Affairs. He is a seasoned economic policy official who has served in several capacities at various institutions. He obtained his first degree from Makerere University and later proceeded for post graduate studies in the United Kingdom where he got a master’s degree from the Cardiff Business School, University of Wales and a PhD in Economics from Liverpool University.
He started his career at the Bank of Uganda rising through the ranks to become the Executive Director, Research. In 2008 he took up an assignment with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as Deputy Director of the African Department (AFR).
As Deputy Director in the IMF- AFR, he made seminal contributions to IMF work on increasing effectiveness of capacity development and in modernising monetary policy frameworks in developing countries. He also championed efforts to achieve improved macro-economic statistics in the SSA region and in advancing better and more consistent data management practices across the IMF. In addition, he provided strategic guidance to many IMF country teams in the region on program and surveillance work.
While at the Bank of Uganda, he published and consulted extensively on macroeconomic and financial, and statistical issues. He was a renowned lead resource person on MEFMI macro-economic management training and a widely deployed IMF short term expert on monetary operations and balance of payments in the region.
