UGANDA’s central bank on Thursday took over the running of the troubled Uganda Commercial Bank to protect the interests of depositors and to remove from its management a Malaysian firm accused of illegal lending. The move follows a controversial attempt to privatise UCB, previously a state corporation, during which the Malaysian firm Westmont Land (Asia) acquired 49% of the shares. A parliamentary inquiry revealed that Westmont’s stake was subsequently improperly sold to Greenland Investments Ltd, through President Yoweri Museveni’s brother, Major General Salim Saleh. Last week, the central bank closed down Greenland Bank, a part of the Greenland Group of Companies, after it was hit by liquidity problems.