The Supreme Court has delayed its verdict on the legality of the application of the summonses issued to board members of the Bank of Commerce, Development and Industry (BCDI).

The petition was filed by Alfred Mutebwa, one of the nine members of the board of directors of the now defunct bank who are jointly accused with former CEO of the bank, Alfred Kalisa.

The Supreme Court was scheduled to rule on the case yesterday but adjourned due to lack of quorum.
According to Serge Kayitare, Mutebwa’s lawyer, some of the judges are away for a training course in the Northern Province.

"It came to my attention that some members of the quorum are undergoing training so the verdict has been put off,” Kayitare said yesterday.

A new date for the ruling will be communicated by Monday, Kayitare said. "Right now I am not aware of the new date.”
The verdict will determine the fate of the other members with whom Kalisa has been arraigned on charges of mismanagement of the commercial bank.

The board members were summoned on request of Kalisa, who claimed that all the decisions he took as CEO and board chairman had prior consent of the board.

Mutebwa was prompted to seek constitutional interpretation after prosecution’s reluctance to pursue the board members despite the fact that the magistrate heeded Kalisa’s request.

Apart from Mutebwa, other board members include Egide Gatera, John Nkera, John Bosco Rusagara and Deo Bamurase. Others are Manasseh Simba and Callixte Kajangwe.

The case is still before the Nyarugenge Court of Higher Instance on substantial stage.

Kalisa, who held the top-most positions in the bank for ten years until 2005, was arrested late 2006 and is charged with six counts.

The charges include breach of trust, nepotism and favoritism, which according to prosecution, led to losses in the bank estimated to be in hundreds of millions of Francs.
BCDI has since been bought by Ecobank, a West African banking consortium.

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