Parliament has backed the decision by the Bank of Uganda (BoU) requiring Stanbic Bank Uganda to hire a Ugandan national as the next Chief Executive Officer to replace Anne Juuko, who the commercial bank gave a new role as head of Global Markets for East Africa.

In a press statement on March 28, 2024, Stanbic Bank Uganda announced the appointment of Samuel F Mwogeza as its Interim Chief Executive, and Barbara Dokoria as Interim Executive Director effective April 1, 2024, until substantive appointments for the positions are made.

These appointments have not been well received by Members of Parliament (MPs) who are saying that Uganda has people with qualifications to take up the job.

The Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, has backed the move by the Bank of Uganda, rejecting the approval of a non-Ugandan as the Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic Bank Uganda.

Tayebwa said it was about time Uganda joined nations like Kenya & South Africa that ringfence such lucrative positions for their own nationals, in order to protect Ugandan workers.

“Stanbic Bank was in the hands of a Ugandan, Patrick Mweheire, it performed very well. They brought in a female, a young Ugandan lady, who also performed exceedingly very well. Now the question of bringing in a non-Ugandan to a Bank to which we entrusted our biggest assets & most of our money, you would ask yourself why?

If Ugandans were performing badly, you would have an issue. There is no foreigner who can go to Kenya and become a Managing Director of the Bank. In South Africa where Stanbic is coming from, there is no foreigner who is the Managing Director of any Bank, why Uganda?” said Tayebwa.

“I want to support the Central Bank for rejecting the non-Ugandan who was nominated because when the Bank performs well, now they want to take it back themselves. Otherwise, let them give us a swap, let a Ugandan be the Managing Director in another country then they come here. Some of us support the Central Bank, it was right to reject the foreigner to come and be,” he added.

“Normally, foreign nationals are normally recruited as long as there are no nationals in that particular country. Standard Bank Group and Stanbic Bank might not have explored opportunities of Ugandan capable of running that bank, but I believe they are there,” Paul Omara, the MP for Otuke County, said in Parliament during Tuesday’s plenary sitting.

Therefore, my request is for this House to associate ourselves with the position of the Central Bank that the Standard Bank Group and Stanbic Uganda’s board should explore opportunities for Uganda human resources to run Stanbic Bank,” Omara said.

Before the appointments, Mwogeza, was Stanbic’s Executive Head of Personal and Private Banking while Dokoria was the Executive Head of Compliance.