By Okidi Patrick/ NORTHERN UGANDA CORRESPONDENT.
LIRA: While addressing hundreds of stakeholders who turned up during the last day of Bank of UgandaTown Hall meeting held at Margarita Palace Hotel on Friday,he urged the people to embark on transaction using mobile money system inorder to reduce financial thefts.
Mr.Michael Atingi Ego, emphasized on the importance of Mobile Money transactions as it reduces the burdens of carrying hard cash.
According to Dr Kenneth Egesa one of the staff of Bank of Uganda disclosed to the participants that the main intension of the training was to interact with district leaders, opinion leaders among others to strengthen their communication and to know more about Bank of Uganda.
They strongly believe that the two days engagement meeting shall make participants h learn about community opinion.
Kenneth thanked the Bank of Uganda deputy governor for personally making it to Lira to share with the people a number of good ideas and creating a good dialogue.
The Deputy Governor Bank of Uganda, Michael Atingi Ego, noted that they are tasked to see that transaction such as mobile money are performed correctly without fraud.
“There are some crime that we are now beginning to see in the fraud of mobile money coming up whereby others want to access pin number.
He noted that all we need is to work together to see to it that we don’t give this guys any room for fraud.
Deputy director also noted that Bank of Uganda have a clean note policy system lput in place.
Some of these notes have really serve their purpose and they have to rest as he displayed to the participants an old note of 1000 shillings.
He encouraged people in Lira and Lango sub-region to use mobile money for daily transactions so that they don’t carry hard cash every time they are transacting business.
23 percent of the beneficiaries of Agricultural Credit Facility (ACF) are in northern Uganda and he said interm of value, Northern Uganda is at 4 percent according to one of the statistics.
He added that this implies that the amount of money each of the individual in Northern Uganda are getting is peanut.
He enlightened that 70 percent of Ugandan live in the rural area and their main activity is agriculture and hence commercial bank should see that their lending are fair and they should partner if possible with the telecom to see to it that the people benefit from the financial institutions.
In his concluding remarks Ego noted that the issue of climate change has caused crisis in most parts of the country that the commercial bank should put into consideration when lending.
Antenatal,plant trees among others as the construction of out patient department to improve maternal and child health care will be key in the renovation. We want to improve the the child health care.
However the Director chambers of commerce for Northern Uganda ,Mr Bosco Ogwang Idola said in the year 2009 they requested for the currency center.
He wants Bank of Uganda centre be established with a permanent centre and it must not be taken away in the future.
“On the Lira technical center l am not aware of the plan to close the centre.
Business activities in Lira has picked up” said Deputy governor Bank of Uganda.
According to the director currency Christine Alupo,50 shillings coin can legally be used and because it is our duty to provide this nation with currency from one shillings to 50,000 shillings note.
“It is legal tender use it if you want it, they are legal” She added.