Ugandans are being made loan guarantors without knowing – and their Mobile Money is being blockedBy Prisca WanyenyaBank of Uganda has admitted it is unaware that Ugandans are being locked out of their mobile money accounts after being irregularly listed as guarantors for online loans without their consent.The admission was made by Governor Michael Atingi-Ego while appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) on September 7, 2026, during consideration of the Auditor General’s December 2025 report.“I am hearing all this for the first time and for you to expect a solution straight away will be quite difficult. We need to investigate and find out how is this operating? What do they do, what measures do we need to put in place to mitigate against this? A formal complaint submitted like we have had now, we are going to look into it,” Atingi-Ego said.“We want to get more information on how this is being transacted, then for us to come up with a solution. But right now I can’t give you a solution until we study it and make recommendations working together with mobile money companies.”This followed a question by Muwada Nkunyingi (Kyadondo East) who asked whether BoU is aware of fraud in the online lending sector. The Governor said money lenders are regulated by Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority (UMRA) under Ministry of Finance, while mobile money is regulated by BoU.“There is what we call mission creep. You don’t have to creep into some area that doesn’t concern you. Normally, if we get any complaints, we refer complainants to the micro-regulatory department in Ministry of Finance, because that is their mandate. We cannot be seen to be stepping there, and also if there are some online lenders and we suspect they are fraudulent, sometimes we refer to Financial Intelligence Authority. We only restrict ourselves to where our mandate allows us,” Atingi-Ego said.Muwada, who doubles as COSASE Chairperson, told BoU that online lenders using mobile money platforms list innocent members of the public as guarantors, and when they fail to recover loans, they turn against guarantors.“You did borrow a loan, someone listed you as a guarantor, you are unaware, but the number belongs to you. Even when they check in the system, the number belongs to you because all numbers are registered. What is your intervention to support unsuspecting members who are illegally indicated as guarantors? And these groups proceed to act against guarantors, including blocking their mobile money deposits for recovery,” Muwada said.However, Sarah Logose (Butaleja Woman MP) objected to BoU’s insistence on complaints being lodged at its Complaints Desk, saying cases are happening across Uganda to people who never reach the desk.“I think one of them is doing a disservice to the country because this whole issue has been on, it did not just start. It started five to six years back. So I am wondering what this person is doing in office. He is supposed to feed this information to those responsible to find procedures on how to curb this. If they are going to just begin procedure, it will take years again, and the country will continue being affected,” Logose said.Atingi-Ego’s admission prompted MPs to question whether he is in charge of the Central Bank.“Being in charge doesn’t mean that you know every detail, everything taking place, you only know what comes to you. If something has not come to you, it doesn’t mean you are not in charge. If there are matters affecting the public and now we’re getting to know them, we will certainly study these matters and put in place mitigating measures,” he replied.Muwada asked BoU to furnish the Committee with a list of all registered mobile money service providers, who will be summoned to clarify fraud on their platforms. He also asked BoU to look into the law regarding roles and responsibilities of a guarantor in online and mobile money lending.“Unfortunately, there are no safeguards requiring consent from a guarantor, they just fill your number, upon failure to repay, these mobile money companies and online lenders proceed to recover from guarantors. Guarantors learn for the first time that they are guarantors when companies make attempts to recover from them,” Muwada said.The post BoU Governor: We Didn’t Know Ugandans Are Losing Mobile Money Over Online Loans They Never Guaranteed appeared first on Business Focus.