Pearl Bank bolsters leadership with legal, cybersecurity appointments

Pearl Bank has strengthened its senior leadership team with the appointment of Dorcas Kiwemba Balimukuubo as Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary and Steven Mwesige as Chief Information Security Officer.

The appointments bring more than 14 years of legal and financial services experience and more than 15 years of experience in information technology, cybersecurity and enterprise risk management respectively, as the bank seeks to strengthen its governance, regulatory compliance and technology risk frameworks.

Kiwemba Balimukuubo joined Pearl Bank in June 2026, bringing experience in corporate governance, regulatory compliance, legal risk management and strategic advisory.

Before joining Pearl Bank, she spent more than eight years at Standard Chartered Bank Uganda, where she served as Country Legal Counsel and Assistant Company Secretary. She provided legal and governance support to the bank’s board, executive management and business functions.

She previously held several senior legal positions at Ecobank Uganda, including Acting Head of Legal, having started her banking career at the bank as a Legal Officer.

Earlier in her career, Kiwemba Balimukuubo worked as an advocate at Capital Law Partners & Advocates, where she advised clients on corporate, commercial and banking matters and handled litigation.

Her experience covers corporate governance, financial services regulation, litigation management, credit and recoveries, company secretarial functions, external counsel management and strategic legal advisory.

At Pearl Bank, she will support the board and executive management on regulatory requirements, governance frameworks and legal and compliance risks while providing strategic legal advice to support the bank’s business objectives.

Kiwemba Balimukuubo holds a Graduate qualification from the Chartered Governance Institute (UK & Ireland) and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree from Makerere University.

She is a member of the Uganda Law Society and the East African Law Society.

Mwesige takes charge of cybersecurity

Mwesige was confirmed as Pearl Bank’s Chief Information Security Officer in July 2026, after serving as Acting Chief Information Security Officer from July 2025 to June 2026.

He brings more than 15 years of experience in information technology, cybersecurity and enterprise risk management.

Since rejoining Pearl Bank in 2020, Mwesige has held several positions, including Head of ICT Security and Governance and Manager, ICT Security and Data Protection. He previously served as the bank’s ICT Security Officer from 2018 to 2019.

Before that, he worked as ICT Risk Officer at Bank of Africa Uganda, ICT Solutions Architect and Lead Penetration Tester at Summit Consulting, Manager and Senior Trainer at the Institute of Forensics and ICT Security, and Systems Administrator at the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda.

At Pearl Bank, Mwesige has led efforts to strengthen the bank’s cybersecurity function and security posture, including its achievement of ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certifications.

His areas of expertise include cybersecurity strategy, enterprise risk governance, cyber risk management, data protection, regulatory compliance, security operations and responsible artificial intelligence governance.

Beyond his executive responsibilities, Mwesige serves as Governor of the Uganda Chapter of the Global Council for Responsible AI and is Board Chairperson of the Pearl Bank Staff SACCO.

He holds an Executive MBA in Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain with distinction from Guglielmo Marconi University in Italy and a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from Uganda Christian University.

His professional qualifications include certificates in Risk Governance and Cyber Risk Governance from the DCRO Institute, ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Implementer and Certified Ethical Hacker credentials.

He has also completed Harvard University’s executive programme in Managing Risk in the Information Age and participated in the Journey to the Boardroom leadership programme.

Mwesige is also involved in mentoring young technology professionals and developing local technology talent, with a focus on innovation, continuous learning and professional development.

The appointments strengthen Pearl Bank’s leadership capacity in legal governance, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity and technology risk as the bank continues to develop its governance and risk management frameworks.

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