The Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara was a good communist but never an economist.
However, Comrade Fidel Castro appointed Che to head Cuba’s national bank. Strange but true. And the rest became history, with Che kicking American banks and any Western financial institutions out of Cuba, creating a closed economic system that Washington and Havana are now struggling to undo, six decades later.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni now finds himself in a situation somewhat similar to Castro’s, as he must find a new central bank governor with the ageing Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile about to leave Bank of Uganda. Mutebile has been the father of Uganda’s three-decade economic reforms, first as the Treasury boss who sorted out the fiscal matters and then as central bank governor who steadied the monetary system.
But Museveni’s dilemma is that the civilian economic ecosystem is providing no suitable candidate to take over. Mutebile’s deputy, with whom he worked hand in glove for two decades, Luis Kasekende, was recently lynched by some fabricated documents tabled before a parliament committee purporting to show that he is fabulously and illicitly wealthy. Although the documents were later found to be false, nothing could be done about it because what an MP utters in Parliament enjoys privilege. End of the bid for Kasekende.
So let us look at Cuba back then for inspiration. With no trustworthy economist, Castro picked Che, a freshly qualified medical doctor when he joined rebel ranks, becoming close to Fidel.
Considering Museveni’s preference for combatants over “unserious” civilians, he could as well pick a revolutionary to take over Bank of Uganda, which is currently embroiled in a few scandals, to put it mildly.
The closest man to Che’s profile would make a rather dramatic choice: Dr Kizza Besigye, who was 20-something years when NRM took state power in 1986. But you never know with the persistent calls by elders and religious leaders for reconciliation; Museveni could easier forgive Besigye for openly trying to take his job than sneaky fellows who laugh with him during day but do other things at night.
The second revolutionary choice as Bank of Uganda Governor would be General Mugisha Muntu, now leading an opposition party. A former army commander, Muntu left with a clean record after introducing financial discipline in the army. The country’s money could not be in safer hands. And like Che, Muntu came from a privileged family background that he tossed aside to join the armed struggle.
Third choice from the uniforms would be General Katumba Wamala, immediate former chief of defence forces. Katumba would be a very safe choice because he has never courted controversy, is currently serving as a minister and is still admired for the stint he did as Inspector General of Police, when he boosted police capabilities and endeared the force to the public.
But even better, Katumba has not yet retired from the army and would just obey an order of a new deployment. Like the other two, he too has a clean financial record.
At number four would be General Ivan Koretta, probably the most experienced serviceman around, with loads of international exposure.
The moustacheod Koretta is nearing retirement and like the other three, also has a clean financial record. With the clock ticking for Governor Mutebile, Museveni has a wide choice of soldiers to pick a replacement from.
Joachim Buwembo is a political and social commentator based in Kampala. E-mail: [email protected]
