IN SHORT: The position of governor of Uganda’s central bank has been vacant since 2022. But social media posts claiming that the president has appointed his daughter to the role are false.
On 21 March 2024, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni reshuffled his cabinet. He appointed his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba as the chief of defence forces while his wife Janet Museveni remained minister of education.
Shortly afterwards, several posts on social media claimed that he had also appointed his daughter Natasha Museveni as governor of the Bank of Uganda, the country’s central bank.
“Natasha Museveni has been appointed Governor for the central Bank of Uganda,” reads one post on Facebook, dated 2 April.
The same claim has been posted here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. It was also published in a public Facebook group in Zambia with more than 153,000 members.
What the law says
The Bank of Uganda is responsible for implementing the country’s monetary policy.
By law, the president has the power to appoint the central bank governor. But they must be “a person of recognised financial or banking experience”.
Natasha Museveni is a fashion designer and film maker.
The position was held by Prof Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile from 2001 until he died in 2022. This is not the first time rumours have circulated about “a new governor” of the bank.
But has Museveni appointed his daughter to the role, raising further concerns about nepotism in his government? We checked.
Rumours not true
We scoured the Bank of Uganda’s website and found no announcement of the appointment of a new governor. The bank has also not posted any news of an appointment on its official X and Facebook accounts.
As of 10 April 2024, deputy governor Michael Atingi-Ego was still signing key monetary policy communications that would otherwise be signed by the governor.
When contacted, a bank representative told Africa Check the news of Natasha’s appointment was “not true”.
“If the governor is appointed, you will get to know,” the spokesperson said.
Africa Check also couldn’t find any news of Natasha Museveni’s supposed appointment on the website of the State House of Uganda.
Natasha Museveni, the daughter of the Ugandan president, has not been appointed governor of the country’s central bank.
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