SME Bank depositors to petition Geingob
Depositors of the defunct SME Bank plan to petition President Hage Geingob over outstanding monies owed to them which they could not withdraw when the bank was placed under curatorship in 2017.
The depositors are taking their fight to State House over what they deem the failure of liquidators Bruni & McLaren to collect dues owed to the bank.
At its peak, the bank held N$1.2 billion in depositors’ money, what’s left in its kitty now stands at only N$48 million.
The depositors plan on taking the petition to Geingob because he was the trade minister under which the bank fell when it was established in 2012.
One of the aggrieved depositors, Daniel Nyaungwa, appealed to others to come together and petition Geingob’s office.
Geingob must hear us
“We plan to petition, to petition for the ordinary poor Namibians with money in the bank, so we need all of us to come together and write this petition. We are going to hand this petition [over], we are thinking of petitioning the Office of the President,” he said.
Nyaungwa felt it was necessary to petition Geingob because of his role in establishing the bank in the early 2010s.
“Because the president was the minister of trade then, he understands what SME Bank is but maybe what they are not understanding is how an ordinary Namibian is suffering because we have money in the bank. People are very angry now; they want their money,” he added.
The bank’s liquidators last week informed depositors that they would likely only be paid five cents for every dollar they held in the bank because of the low level of deposits currently.
Cabinet decided on SME Bank
On his part, Geingob has denied championing the establishment of the bank, saying rather it was a Cabinet decision to form the bank by converting government’s former credit guarantee scheme.
“I am not quiet on the SME Bank. Let me make use of this opportunity to clarify that the SME Bank was never a ‘Hage’ project, as portrayed by some,” Geingob said at a briefing held in 2017.
The bank met its demise after the Bank of Namibia found that almost N$200 million had been pushed into questionable investments.
The depositors are taking their fight to State House over what they deem the failure of liquidators Bruni & McLaren to collect dues owed to the bank.
At its peak, the bank held N$1.2 billion in depositors’ money, what’s left in its kitty now stands at only N$48 million.
The depositors plan on taking the petition to Geingob because he was the trade minister under which the bank fell when it was established in 2012.
One of the aggrieved depositors, Daniel Nyaungwa, appealed to others to come together and petition Geingob’s office.
Geingob must hear us
“We plan to petition, to petition for the ordinary poor Namibians with money in the bank, so we need all of us to come together and write this petition. We are going to hand this petition [over], we are thinking of petitioning the Office of the President,” he said.
Nyaungwa felt it was necessary to petition Geingob because of his role in establishing the bank in the early 2010s.
“Because the president was the minister of trade then, he understands what SME Bank is but maybe what they are not understanding is how an ordinary Namibian is suffering because we have money in the bank. People are very angry now; they want their money,” he added.
The bank’s liquidators last week informed depositors that they would likely only be paid five cents for every dollar they held in the bank because of the low level of deposits currently.
Cabinet decided on SME Bank
On his part, Geingob has denied championing the establishment of the bank, saying rather it was a Cabinet decision to form the bank by converting government’s former credit guarantee scheme.
“I am not quiet on the SME Bank. Let me make use of this opportunity to clarify that the SME Bank was never a ‘Hage’ project, as portrayed by some,” Geingob said at a briefing held in 2017.
The bank met its demise after the Bank of Namibia found that almost N$200 million had been pushed into questionable investments.
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