Governor's Remarks on the Occasion of the 15Th Joseph Mubiru Memorial Lecture Held at Speke Resort Munyonyo- 5Th October 2007
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GOVERNOR'S REMARKS ON THE OCCASION OF THE 15TH JOSEPH MUBIRU MEMORIAL LECTURE HELD AT SPEKE RESORT MUNYONYO- 5TH OCTOBER 2007 The Chairman Hon. Dr. Ezra Suruma The Guest Speaker Dr Donald Kaberuka Hon. Ministers Members of the Diplomatic Corps Religious Leaders Mrs Teo Mubiru Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen Good afternoon. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Management and staff of Bank of Uganda, I am very pleased to welcome you all to the 15th Joseph Mubiru Memorial Lecture. The Joseph Mubiru Memorial Lectures were instituted by Bank of Uganda in 1988 to honour its first Governor and to celebrate the ideal of a strong Central Bank committed to integrity and professional excellence which he espoused. Weare privileged on this occasion to welcome, as our Guest Speaker, a very distinguished son of Africa, Dr Donald Kaberuka the President of the African Development Bank. Hon. Dr. Ezra Suruma, the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic 1 DevelopmeTIt has kindly agreed to chair the proceedings. The discussant is a distinguished International Public Servant, and Director General of the East African Development Bank, Mr Godfrey Tumusiime. Prof. Mathew Okai, a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Uganda, will move a vote of thanks. We are extremely happy that Mrs Teo Mubiru has been able, once again, to be with us on this occasion. We welcome her most warmly and extend to her and the family our best wishes. Our Guest speaker, Dr. Donald Kaberuka is a professional economist specialized in International Finance and Development. Before offering his services to Africa as President of the African Development Bank, he was the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda, a position he assumed in 1997. In this position, he was the principal architect of Rwanda's highly successful post war reconstruction and economic reform programme. Under his tenure, major economic and governance reforms were implemented in the fiscal, monetary, budgetary and structural domains including independence of the Central Bank. These reforms have led to the successful and widely acclaimed recovery of Rwandan economy, sustained economic growth and enabled the country to reach debt cancellation under HIPC in April 2005. Before being appointed Minister, Dr. Kaberuka was State Minister for Budget and Planning. In this position he initiated major legal and institutional reforms of the National Budget, the National Treasury functions, the Public Accounts and External Aid 2 Management. He put in place major institutions of good governance such as the Office of the Audit General. Prior to joining Government, Dr Kaberuka had 12 years' experience in the banking industry, trade finance, international commodity affairs and development issues. He was a member of the 8 persons Advisory Panel for the Human Development Report 2005; served as Chairman of the HIPC Ministerial Network since 2002; co-chaired the United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries III; Chairman of the Board of Governors in the African Trade Insurance Agency from 2003; Chairman of PTA Bank during 2001 to 2002 and Chairman of the National African Peer Review Commission from May 2004. Dr Kaberuka was educated in Tanzania and the United Kingdom and has an M.Phil (Econ) and a PhD in Economics from Glasgow University. He is fluent in English, French and Swahili. Allow me now to welcome the Chairman of this afternoon's proceedings, Hon. Dr. Ezra Suruma, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development of the Republic of Uganda. Hon Suruma has had a long and enviable record of public service. He was the Director of Research at the Bank of Uganda, 1987 to 1990; Deputy Governor, Bank of Uganda, 1990 to 1993; Chairman/Managing Director of the Uganda Commercial Bank, 1993 to 1996, where he restructured the Bank and its liquidity from severe chronic distress. Hon. Suruma was Chairman Board of 3 Director of Uganda Airlines Corporation (1991-1997) and Director Economic Affairs, Movement Secretariat, July 1998 to January 2005. Hon. Suruma also distinguished himself in the academic world. He was Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, Makerere University; Associate Professor of Economics, School of Business, Florida A & M University (USA) and Professor and Head of Department of Management Science, Coppin State College, Baltimore Maryland State University System, USA. Hon. Suruma studied at Kikungiri Primary School, Kigezi High School and King's College, Buddo. He holds BSc (Finance) and an M.A Economics from Fordham University, New York and a PhD in Economics from the University of Connecticut, USA. We are very delighted that you found time to chair the 15th Joseph Mubiru Memorial Lecture. I now have the honour of handing over the proceedings to our distinguished Chairman. Thank you. Kampala 5th October 2007.