Shs443bn Covid19 bailout fund: UDB reportedly dismisses New Vision list of Stimulus Package beneficiaries as fake; borrowers considering court’s intervention

Uganda Development Bank (UDB) Limited boss Patricia Ojangole has reportedly dismissed a list of beneficiaries for a Shs443bn Covid19 government bailout run by government daily The New Vision.

The list ran in New Vision of March 18, 2021, under the headline Gov’t Pays Shs443bn in Covid Bailout with the story and list of about 100 purported beneficiaries run on pages five and six.

The lists were titled: Government stimulus funds sent through UDB.

Now Ojangole, the UDB Executive Director, says UDB was yet to receive government money to dish out to companies under financial distress due to Covid19.

The UDB boss says the list contained names of companies that UDB had given normal loans — and not Covid19 relief and bailout fund.

“What is contained in that list are businesses which went through normal procedures, applied and got loans from UDB and it had nothing to do with COVID19 bailout,” Ojangole was quoted by an online publication as saying in a Friday interview.

Another publication quoted a source at UDB as saying borrowers had cried out to the bank to come out and clear the air or else they consider a suit in courts of law, including on grounds of violation of client privacy guidelines.

Ojangole is expected to issue a statement on March 22.

Additional Reporting: Courtesy