By Charles Katabalwa
Police has arrested and detained Post Bank staffs implicated in dealing in counterfeit notes, the management of the bank having realized lapses in oversight of the branch operations causing the suspension of the responsible staff pending conclusion of the investigation.
This follows PostBank (PBU) management confirming that the bank’s internal control mechanism had discovered counterfeit notes worth Five Hundred Million Uganda Shillings (ugx 500m) in Mbale branch, and subsequently reporting the matter to Police.
Initial investigations done by the bank’s internal security and control department points to a collusion of the bank’s custodians of cash at Mbale branch.
“All the steps that we are taking are in line with the bank’s policies and procedures, and the culprits will be brought to book according to the laws of Uganda,’’ Julius Kakeeto Post Bank Manager said.
This is an isolated incident, and we assure you that all transactions are safe as the bank has in place all the required resources and technology to detect counterfeit, just like it was in this case where we detected this internally before any customer could be impacted.
“Integrity is critical to us, and because you are the reason we exist, we believe it is important to update you on the progress of the ongoing investigation in the most transparent way.
We re-assure you of our promise to foster your prosperity at every step of your financial journey” Management.
PostBank is committed to maintaining the safety of all customers’ deposits and complies with all regulations as laid out by Bank of Uganda and the Deposit Protection Fund of Uganda.
Police spokesperson Rusoke Kituuma confirmed that there are people arrested regarding the incident but declined to reveal their identity because investigations were not yet complete.
“ I can’t reveal the identity of the culprits yet because such will antogonize the investigations and we will give you the detailed information when we have completed the findings,” Rusoke said.
Meanwhile Post Bank Uganda have partnered with the Uganda Blood Transfusion Services (UBTS) to launch annual nationwide blood donation drive aiming at collecting blood from its employees amidst forthcoming active festival seasons.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report of September 2024, Uganda has an annual demand of about 450,000 units of blood but falls short by over 30 percent of the required units. The Organisation recommends that 1 percent of blood be collected annually from the population.
While addressing journalists during the launch at Post Bank headquarters along Nkuruma road in Kampala, Julius Kakeeto the Bank Managing Director ,also disclosed that they launched it at regional level namely Northern, Eastern Western and Central region targeting all the 1200 employees of post Bank.
Kakeeto adds, that this initiative also aims to raise public awareness about the importance of blood donations, more so this coming active season were many accidents happen and victims need blood.
However, Kakeeto adds that despite keeping customer’s funds safe they are committed to help Uganda’s population productive but this can be achieved when they are healthy.
Dr. Dorothy Kyeyune, Director UBT has applauded Post Bank for this initiative mostly when the prime donors are going for holidays.
About PostBank Uganda
PostBank Uganda (PBU) is purposed to foster prosperity for Ugandans. It has since its establishment extended tailored financial services to enable them Grow and Prosper by facilitating their participation in social economic activities that improve their livelihoods.
The Bank is a limited liability company that was incorporated under the Companies Act in 1998 and is owned by the Government of Uganda with 100% shareholding. PostBank Uganda, a fully-fledged commercial bank, boasts of a wide branch network of 58 branches countrywide, and over 3,000 Agents. These are complemented by PostMobile – *263#, PostApp, PostOnline and smart ATMs