Pearl Bank appoints legal, cybersecurity executives

Pearl Bank has appointed Dorcas Kiwemba Balimukuubo as chief legal officer and company secretary and Steven Mwesige as chief information security officer, strengthening its leadership in legal governance, cybersecurity and risk management.

The appointments bring more than 14 years of experience for Balimukuubo and 15 years for Mwesige across financial services, law, information technology and risk governance.

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

Before joining the 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 board, executive management and business functions.

She previously held several legal positions at Ecobank Uganda, including acting head of legal, having started her banking career as a legal officer.

Earlier in her career, Balimukuubo worked as an advocate at Capital Law Partners & Advocates, advising clients on corporate, commercial and banking matters, as well as litigation.

Her expertise spans financial services regulation, litigation management, credit and recoveries, company secretarial functions, external counsel management and strategic legal advisory.

At Pearl Bank, she is expected to support the board and executive management on regulatory compliance, governance and legal risk management while aligning these functions with the bank’s business objectives.

She holds a graduate qualification from the Chartered Governance Institute (UK & Ireland) and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Makerere University. She is a member of the Uganda Law Society and the East African Law Society.

Mwesige was confirmed as Pearl Bank’s chief information security officer in July 2026, after serving in an acting capacity from July 2025 to June 2026. He brings more than 15 years of experience in information technology, cybersecurity, and enterprise risk management.

Since rejoining the bank in 2020, he has served as head of ICT security and governance and manager of ICT security and data protection. He previously worked as an ICT security officer at the bank from 2018 to 2019.

His earlier roles include 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 cybersecurity, including work associated with the bank’s attainment of ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certifications.

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

Beyond his executive role, Mwesige serves as governor of the Uganda Chapter of the Global Council for Responsible AI and as 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 also mentors young technology professionals and supports the development of local technology talent, with an emphasis on innovation, continuous learning and professional development.

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