Asian hackers allegedly stole $16.8 million from the Central Bank of Uganda

Offshore hackers have stolen 62 billion Ugandan shillings ($16.8 million) from Uganda’s central bank, the state-owned New Vision newspaper reported today. The hackers, identifying themselves as “Waste,” reportedly accessed the Bank of Uganda’s IT systems and illicitly transferred the funds earlier this month.

According to Reuters, the hacking group based in Southeast Asia sent part of the stolen money to Japan, New Vision said, citing unnamed sources at the bank. Bank of Uganda did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter, the news platform said. The Ugandan police also did not respond to a request for comments.

The reporting newspaper, New Vision also claimed that the central bank had successfully recovered over half of the money from the hackers. In response to the cyber attack, President Yoweri Museveni has ordered an investigation, it said. Separately Uganda’s biggest independent newspaper, Daily Monitor, reported that the theft may have involved collusion by insiders.

Cyber thefts from banks and other financial service providers, including telecom firms, have occurred many times in Uganda. However, police officials have said that some banks are hesitant to publicly acknowledge such incidents due to fears of alienating customers.

The country has been in the news for social media censorship of late. Recall that two weeks ago two popular Ugandan TikTokers were arrested and detained for allegedly insulting members of the president’s family.

The BBC reports that the TikTokers, 21-year-old David Ssengozi, alias Lucky Choice, and Isaiah Ssekagiri, 28, were held for allegedly insulting President Yoweri Museveni, the first lady, Janet Museveni, and the president’s son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba on the video-sharing platform, TikTok.

Similarly, in 2022, award-winning Ugandan author, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was charged with two counts of “offensive communication” after making uncomplimentary remarks about the president and his son on Twitter. He was arrested and thrown in jail where he was reportedly tortured. He would spend a month in jail before escaping and fleeing to Germany.

Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni is a complete dictator, having been in power for 38 years. Vested with absolute powers, it doesn’t need emphasising that insulting him, his family or close allies is a recipe for trouble as David Ssengozi and Isaiah Ssekagiri are presently finding out in a rather painful fashion.

Indeed, back in September, police spokesman Rusoke Kituuma had warned the people of Uganda that abusing President Museveni, who he described as “the fountain of honour”, was an offence. In that warning, he had mentioned that his organisation was already investigating Lucky Choice (David Ssengozi) who was eventually arrested.

This is coming even as the government of Uganda has been criticised for restricting people’s ability to criticise actions by the president or his officials. In a report last year, the US government accused Uganda of restricting internet freedom through the use of criminal punishments.

Several rights groups have also regularly denounced the Ugandan authorities over violations of human rights and the freedom of expression. But all these have not stopped the dictatorship in Kampala from wielding the big hammer against any citizen found to have ‘insulted’ the president and others in authority.

See also: Sex tape scandal: Equatorial Guinea bans citizens from downloading content from WhatsApp