Shelter Afrique boss resigns in the wake of sham accounting

James Mugerwa has resigned as the Shelter Afrique managing director. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • In a statement, the bank’s Board chairman Jean Paul Missi said that Mr Mugerwa’s resignation was effective immediately and that he would be replaced by Femi Adewole in an acting capacity.

Shelter Afrique managing director James Mugerwa has resigned, barely two months after the pan-African lender was accused of cooking its books.

In a statement, the bank’s Board chairman Jean Paul Missi said that Mr Mugerwa’s resignation was effective immediately and that he would be replaced by Femi Adewole in an acting capacity.

“The Board of Shelter Afrique has amicably accepted the resignation of Mr James Mugerwa from the position of Managing Director effective immediately. In view of this development, the Board has reconstituted the Senior Management Committee of Shelter-Afrique with Oumar Diop as the acting deputy managing director with immediate effect,” Mr Missi said.

Last September, the firm’s former finance director Godfrey Waweru accused Mr Mugerwa, of presiding over a regime which was restructuring overdue loans to appear as performing facilities, effectively suppressing the volume of toxic mortgages.

“The loans are restructured multiple times to ensure they are not classified as non-performing and are therefore hidden NPLs that are not disclosed,” Mr Waweru wrote in an whistleblowing email to the lenders financiers.

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A recent audit report by Deloitte into the allegations recommended disciplinary action against both Mr Mugerwa and Mr Waweru over financial impropriety and governance issues.