CPA Samuel Mwogeza, the Chief Financial Officer of Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited was awarded CPA of the Year at the 2019 Accountancy Service Awards (ASA) on 6 September 2019.
CPA Mwogeza was recognized for among other things: founding the Accountants Convention at Stanbic Bank, a platform which provides the opportunity for accounting students and members to discuss the latest updates in accountancy; excellence in financial reporting at Stanbic Bank, which culminated into the attainment of the Financial Reporting (FiRe) Awards for 4 consecutive years, 2014-2017; and leading the bank business transformation review that resulted to over 30 billion savings in cost and a drop in the bank CTI to below 50% in 2019.
CPA Mwogeza is a Trustee of the Stanbic Pension Fund and chairs the finance committee of the fund. He is the technical lead on the Uganda Bankers Association (UBA) CFO Executive Committee, a Board member of Youth for Christ, and a member of the Finance, Planning and Administrative Committee of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU).
In his acceptance speech, CPA Mwogeza acknowledged the contribution of Stanbic Bank to his achievement. “I thank God who is the author of every good thing, my wife and Stanbic bank, an excellent institution which provides a platform for growth,” CPA Mwogeza said.
The Gold Service Award was presented to CPA Evarist Bariyo Mwesigye, a consultant at the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development.
CPA Mwesigye has been instrumental in the development of the accountancy profession. He served on the Council, Public Accountants Examinations Board (PAEB) and the Education Committee of ICPAU. He was instrumental in designing a project proposal which led to sponsorship of government employees for the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) and Accounting Technicians Certificate (ATC) courses. He also provided technical support to the CPA examinations scheme in its formative years.
Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited won the Finance team of the year Award, for among others: innovation, automation, good corporate governance, commitment to continuing professional development, professionalism, cost management strategies (the finance team led the business transformation project leading to cost savings of UGX 30bn over 2 years (2017, 2018) and drop in cost to income to now below 50%), and excellence in financial reporting.
CPA Mwogeza noted that the processes in Stanbic Bank are very efficient. “We have an excellent team that is committed to not just ethical behaviour and continually performing better,” CPA Mwogeza said.
The first runner up, (non-public sector Category) for the finance team of the year award was Reproductive Health Uganda while the first runner-up in the government category was the Uganda Revenue Authority.
The accounting firm of the Year Award went to Davita & Associates.
The firm: operates based on a strategic plan for 2016-2020 which has clear set objectives, has good client servicing, communicates services innovatively, has in place a feedback mechanism and well defined Human Resources policies, is involved in Corporate Social Responsibility, and performs honorary audits for selected types of the clients.
The Dativa & Associates team pledged to continue working diligently, to promote the accountancy profession.
CPA David Kiwanuka won the Young Accountant of the Year Award. He was recognized for: his contribution to the improvement of SACCO management, contributing to the improvement of e-tax system business processes and tax payers’ compliance, among others. CPA Kiwanuka is an Internal Auditor at the National Drug Authority (NDA).
He acknowledged the support of the NDA management team, Uganda Revenue Authority staff and management team, Harvest and Training Consultancy Accounting, Our Lady of this Nation, Nabbingo Board Education Committee, for his achievement.
Organised by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda, the Accountancy Service Awards is a premium annual award of excellence aimed at recognising persons or entities that have made outstanding contributions towards the advancement of the accountancy profession in Uganda and beyond. The theme for the 2019 Awards was Building Uganda through Service. The Awards were inaugurated in 2015.
CPA Frederick Kibbedi, the ICPAU President emphasized that the Awards are meant to recognise teams and individuals that have helped to deliver excellence.
“ASA is a concept that helps us recognise from within ourselves people who are taking exceptional steps to ensure that the standard of accountancy and the mandate of ICPAU is achieved,” CPA Kibbedi said.
In his address, the ICPAU President decried the rate at which execution of justice takes place. He implored the Director of Public Prosecutions, Justice Mike Chibita (the Chief Guest at the ASA) to improve the turnaround time for the trial of cases against illegitimate accountants, so that professional accountants can protect their space.
Justice Chibita applauded ICPAU for being determined to preserve the space of professional accountants, by exposing the masqueraders. He committed to giving support to ICPAU to eliminate quack accountants. “I can assure you that as you have appealed to my office, we are ready to work with you to ensure that irregularities are eliminated,” Justice Chibita said. “I invite the CEO to compile the pending files and cases and forward them so that we make sure that we expedite them,” he added.
Integrity, honesty and ethical behaviour are key values. We have a duty as professionals, to ourselves, to the community, nation and entire world, to maintain professional standards and abide by set standards. In serving our respective clients, it is important to do so with honesty. The alternative will create chaos and uncertainty. Corruption, dishonesty, false accountability, false reporting and non-compliance with systems are the biggest challenges to Uganda’s economic growth and development. Uganda will live on but the quality of life and the level of professionalism will not be what we all want, if we do not go about our respective trades with integrity – Justice Mike Chibita
