Every new day, the public expect an announcement from Uganda‘s president Yoweri Museveni on who the new central bank governor will be after the death of the long-serving incumbent Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile .
The Bank of Uganda has been without a permanent governor since January, when Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile died in a Nairobi hospital.
But for today’s principle, Keith Muhakanizi is touted as one of the most agile technocrats the ministry saw, as he was usually always ready with an answer to every question. Muhakanizi was also opposed to supplementary budgets and high borrowing rates, arguing that if the budget is strictly followed, there would be very little need for a supplementary.
Muhakanizi is seen by many as the best choice to replace Mutebile and capable of driving Uganda’s economy. Muhakazi perhaps knows the late Mutebile best regarding the professional era, though he served as PS/ST for only four years. He was involved in the development and execution of economic policies for more than a decade at the ministry of finance, served as a member of the board BoU, and was chairperson of the Economic Policy Research Center at Makerere University.
For starters, the Governor of the Bank of Uganda is chief executive officer and the chairman of the board of directors of the Bank of Uganda.
The Bank of Uganda Act stipulates that the governor and deputy governor of the Bank of Uganda shall be appointed by the President of Uganda with the consent of the Cabinet. The governor and deputy governor shall be appointed for a period of five years and shall be eligible for reappointment.
The act further stipulates that the governor and deputy governor shall not, while in office, take up any other office or employment, whether paid or unpaid. It is a requirement that both the governor and deputy governor shall be individuals with recognized financial or banking experience.
The major responsibilities of the Governor of the Bank of Uganda include; acting as the supervisor of the bank’s staff, assigning duties, and receiving and acting on reports from the staff.
Other roles include Convening and presiding over the meetings of the bank’s board of directors, and many spectators are pointing to Keith Muhakanizi given his worthwhile experience.
BUT WHY KEITH MUHAKANIZI?
Muhakanizi is a Ugandan Economist, current Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
Muhakanizi has been instrumental in Macroeconomics policy and planning, financial sector growth and private sector growth in the country and has served in various departments at the Ministry for years.
Muhakanizi has and still serves as a member on Boards of numerous organizations. In addition to being the chairperson of the EPRC Board of Management, he served as the Chairman of East African Development Bank since May 25, 2013.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
Keith Muhakanizi was born in Rukungiri District to the late Rev. Kosia Kajwengye and the late Zeridah Kajwengye. He was born to a family of 7 children, 4 boys and 3 girls.
Muhakanizi’s mother was a very kind and ardent religious woman while his father Kajwengye pioneered evangelism in Rujumbura that later spread throughout East Africa.
In addition, they also taught families about the cleanliness of their families and personal hygiene, built schools, health centers as well as pioneering the best methods of farming in the region.
Talking about his parents, Muhakanizi said his parents did not get formal education but were very intelligent and were like degree holders.
His late father was the only one who studied up to primary four and was able to serve as a head teacher of a primary school for many years before joining church ministry.
While his mother was an uneducated woman, she did not attend any classroom. The only education she achieved was the mother’s union lectures, but she was an exemplary leader in their family.
WORK AND EXPERIENCE
Keith Muhakanizi is the current Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance. He took over the office from Chris Kassami.
Mr Keith Muhakanizi is both an ardent Development and Macro- Economist, and a Public Sector Management Specialist with thirty-eight years experience in Government, rising from an Economist to his present position as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury at Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development of the Republic of Uganda.
In the 1990s, he played a central role in the formulation and implementation of economic reforms that restored the macro-economic stability of Uganda’s economy.
Muhakanizi guided both the technical and policy development work in the preparation of successive National Development Plans.
More policy reforms and enhancing public financial management to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of public resource use to promote enhanced domestic resource mobilization.
Muhakanizi, who has been at the Ministry for more than a decade has been instrumental in designing major policy changes along with Chris Kassami.
Muhakanizi is also a board chairman of National Housing and Construction Company and a member of numerous other boards.
Muhakanizi serves as Board Member, Bank of Uganda and Chairperson Housing Finance Bank Limited, Uganda.
Muhakanizi is the Chairperson/Ex-official Member of the EPRC Board of management. He’s a former Director Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Finance and former Deputy Secretary Treasury at the Finance Ministry.
Keith Muhakanizi received credits for his contribution towards Uganda’s economic growth figures over the years.
About Post Author
Post Views:
43
link