Atingi-Ego said the central bank had reviewed its controls and addressed weaknesses following incidents that included the reported loss of laptops and allegations of systems being hacked.
He made the disclosure on Monday, 07 September 2026, while leading BoU officials before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), chaired by Hon. Muwada Nkunyingi.
Nkunyingi pressed the Governor to explain what had been done to safeguard the central bank and restore public confidence following reports of breaches at its headquarters.
In response, Atingi-Ego said: “We have looked at them and where there are any perceived weaknesses, we have strengthened them. And we are confident in that,” he added.
The Governor, however, rejected the description of one of the incidents as hacking, saying the matter involved fraudulent payments.
“First of all, can I correct you? There was no hacking in Bank of Uganda. There were fraudulent payments,” Atingi-Ego said.
He declined to disclose details of the controls introduced, saying doing so publicly could expose the bank to further risks.
“Chair, we cannot share our controls because the bad boys are out there. They will know what our controls are,” he said, adding that the details could be shared with the committee in camera.
The exchange came as COSASE scrutinised BoU’s financial statements and audit matters for the financial year ended 30 June 2025.
Atingi-Ego told the committee that the Auditor-General had issued an unmodified, or clean, audit opinion on the bank’s financial statements, saying the accounts gave a true and fair view of its financial position, performance and cash flows.
He said the two key audit matters identified expected credit losses on financial assets and litigation and contractual claims did not result in a qualification of the audit opinion.
The committee also raised concerns over loan terms, excessive recovery charges, manipulation of customers’ accounts and limited access to the central bank’s complaint-resolution mechanisms.
He described reliance on customer complaint boxes as “a lacklustre response”, asking BoU to establish a more accessible system through which members of the public can directly raise and have their complaints resolved.
Hon. Eliab Naturinda, the Ndorwa County West MP also challenged the central bank to take a stronger regulatory position against commercial banks accused of mistreating customers. He tasked the institution to regulate money lending using the mobile money.
The committee further questioned how borrowers were protected from unfavourable loan terms and aggressive recovery practices.
Nkuyingi cited complaints received by the committee alleging that some banks deduct money from customers’ accounts for recovery costs and bailiff fees while the underlying loans remain outstanding.
“You will find a customer who borrowed Shs5 million being charged Shs20 million for recovery and it went to a bailiff, but the loan is still existing,” he said.
He challenged BoU to demonstrate “practical and tangible efforts” to protect customers and investigate such practices.
Responding, Hannington Wasswa who represented the bank’s Executive Director for Supervision said the central bank had issued consumer protection guidelines requiring financial institutions to provide borrowers with a key facts document detailing the interest rate, repayment frequency, collateral and repayment schedule.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
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