A total of nine arrests have been made in connection with the Bank of Uganda (BoU) heist in which billions of shillings were stolen from the central bank, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
The arrests constitute investigations into Uganda’s treasury- and the first significant operations since late 2024 when Monitor broke the story, prompting President Museveni to order a probe.
Last year, in two separate instances of debt servicing payments, funds were misrouted.
A payment of $6.134 million (Shs22.3 billion) meant for the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA)—which provides concessional credit to the world’s poorest countries—was instead redirected to a bank account in Tokyo belonging to a private company, Roadway Company Ltd.
Similarly, a payment of $8,596,824 (Shs31.2 billion) intended for the African Development Bank’s African Development Fund (AFD) was instead transferred to a bank account in London for another private company, MJS International.
The $6.134m was wired on September 10, and the $8.596m transaction effected on September 26, according to a highly confidential December 3, 2024 information systems audit report shared with the Bank of Uganda (BoU) Deputy Governor Michael Atingi-Ego.
On February 4, 2025, police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke said all the suspects in custody over the heist are Ministry of Finance officials who were apprehended by the CID Directorate as part of ongoing investigations.
“We have been having an investigation into the billions of shillings that mysteriously disappeared. In the course of the investigation, we summoned nine officers from the Ministry of Finance. I wish to confirm that today- nine persons were apprehended,” Rusoke said in a brief statement.
Late Tuesday, Secretary to Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi said “the Ministry of Finance had provided the investigating authorities with full support and ensured that all the concerned officers fully cooperate as required.”
“Some officers attached to the Accountant General’s Office (AGO) were summoned and detained by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to facilitate the conclusion of the investigations,” he noted.
“We wish to assure everyone concerned that all our services, including those provided by the AGO, are operating normally,” Ggoobi added.
About the heist
The heist, according to the information systems audit codenamed “Project Tai” undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), involved computer experts and accountants manipulating financial information inside the government’s digital cash transaction portal, the Integrated Facility Management System (IFMS), with the stroke of a few keys on the computer.
The first heist; the spiriting away of $6.134m (Shs22.3b) happened in early September 2024, but Uganda’s Ministry of Finance, by omission or commission, kept lid on the matter until IDA flagged the late payment in early October. Even then, according to sources, it took another month for the ministry to call in the Auditor General’s office.
It is upon basis of the audit report that Dr Atingi-Ego, who since January 2022 has been holding forte simultaneously as Governor, deputy Governor, and BoU chairperson, broke silence on the incident, telling journalists on December 5 that: “I can tell you with confidence that there is no evidence of anauthorised access to the BoU IT systems.”
“These fraud incidents were initiated outside the BoU IT systems to divert the funds. BoU is a paying entity. You get instructions to pay, and we pay as instructed. So let me repeat: the fraud incidents were initiated outside the BoU IT systems, and instructions were received by the BoU to pay the wrong beneficiaries, leading to the subsequent diversion of the funds. Now, where the diversion took place, how, and who were involved is a subject matter of the ongoing investigation for which I cannot comment,” a composed Dr Atingi-Ego said at the announcement of the BoU monetary policy.
Source: MSN
