Deputy Governor Dr. Michael Atingi-Ego, who has been acting Governor since the death of long serving governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile in 2022, has been appointed Governor of the Bank of Uganda (BoU).
- •Atingi-Ego’s appointment marks the end of the leadership vacuum in the central bank, which had seen him effectively play both roles.
- •Tumusiime-Mutebile served in the position for a little over two decades, from 2001 until his death.
- •Atingi-Ego will be deputised by economist Prof Augustus Nuwagaba, the country’s local media reported on Monday.
Atingi-Ego, 60, was appointed to the deputy governorship in 2020 from the Macroeconomics and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI) where he served as executive director while he was on leave from the IMF. He had previously worked at the BoU, rising to the role of Executive Director Research.
Prof Nuwagaba, 61, is a Makerere University academic who runs an international consultancy firm. He is an expert in economic transformation, financial management and fiscal policy.
In addition to filling the leadership vacuum, the appointments come as investigations into how the central bank lost US$16mn in September 2024 reach a crucial stage. Last week, investigators arrested the Accountant General and eight senior officials for the heist. The BoU has previously said it recovered US$8.2 million of the stolen funds from a London-based entity that received US$8.596million meant to repay the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The scandal is likely to feature prominently during the parliamentary process to confirm Atingi-Ego’s appointment as Governor of BoU.
