“The Mutebile I knew,” says Dr. Byabashaija of the Prisons Department, in a homage to the late BoU governor.
Mutebile died in Nairobi Hospital on Sunday morning, where he had been hospitalised in December.
Dr. Johnson Byabshaija, the Commissioner General of Prisons, has joined the litany of friends, colleagues, and government officials who have paid respect to the late President of the Bank of Uganda, Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile.
Mutebile died in Nairobi Hospital on Sunday morning, where he had been hospitalised in December.
Dr. Byabashaija says he first encountered Mutebile in 1992, when the Uganda Development Bank advertised for the supply of 120,000 day old layer chicks to be supplied to farmers, which he (Byabashaija) mistook for an opportunity for seizure by Kigo Prison Farm, which he oversaw.
“This would provide us with much-needed funding for our chicken hatchery project.” “I sought guidance from the Commissioner General of Prisons, who gave me the green light,” Byabashaija explained.
He said he went to the Uganda Development Bank to complete the transaction, but the then-Director of Finance, Syda Bumba, warned him it was unsafe to give Kigo Prison Fund the contract to provide chicks because it was not a business company.
Byabashaija was then led into the office of Mutebile, the Treasury Secretary at the time.
“I told him about Kigo Prisons’ hatchery’s ability to supply UDB with 120,000-day-old layer chicks. “I went ahead and made my request for indemnity from him, and he was nodding his head in agreement with what I was saying but staring at me with a harsh glare,” Byabashaija recalled.
According to the Commissioner General of Prisons, Mutebile later told him that the deal could not be delivered to them because he was afraid they wouldn’t be able to pull it out.
“I was taken aback. I tried but failed to persuade him. In his submission, he was exceedingly astute. I gave up and returned my attention to Kigo, who was licking his lips. “Rest in peace, his soul.”
