Charge SME Bank directors - Nafinu
The Namibia Financial Institutions Union (Nafinu) has demanded that the chairman of the SME Bank board, and members of the executive committee who were responsible for the mess at the embattled bank, be charged in line with the Companies Act.
The emphatic call was made by SME Bank employees yesterday at the handover of a petition to trade permanent secretary Gabriel Sinimbo.
Chanting slogans such as 'Down Bank of Namibia down' the emotional employees held up placards reading 'Job Muniaro Judas Iscariot' while waiting for Sinimbo to arrive to receive the petition.
Reading the petition, Nafinu general secretary Asnath Zamuee said the SME Bank was being made to pay the ultimate price for the individuals who had run the bank into the ground.
“We demand that action be taken against the culprits, freeze their accounts, seize their properties to government and lock them up,” Zamuee said while SME Bank employees were chanting 'We are innocent, we are innocent', 'Down Bank of Namibia down'.
“We believe that we are the sacrificial lambs in this process that involves Zimbabwean nationals who messed up the bank and are now back in their country, leading normal lives,” said Zamuee, alleging that the Zimbabwean employees affected had already secured jobs with a minority shareholder in the SME Bank, the Metropolitan Bank of Zimbabwe.
The SME Bank is a joint venture between the Namibian government (65%), the Metropolitan Bank of Zimbabwe (30%) and controversial Zimbabwean businessman Enock Kamushinda (5%).
SME Bank's previous board was made up of cabinet secretary George Simataa as chairman, Petrina Nakale, Theofelus Mberirua, Milka Mungunda, Kamushinda and Ozias Bvute, who also served as CEO.
Zamuee further alleged that Nafinu had brought questionable practices at the SME Bank to the attention of the Bank of Namibia in 2014 already but that its concerns had fallen on deaf ears.
“We told them about the millions being held in the petty cash account at the bank. Our concerns were met with silence and now we are the ones to pay the price of government's inability to control foreigners.”
She also claimed that the ministry of home affairs did not intervene when told about the large number of Zimbabweans who were working at the SME Bank without work permits.
The union also claimed that it had approached the ministry of home affairs to ask how expatriates, particularly Zimbabwean nationals, could hold positions at the SME Bank without the necessary permits.
“At the time we questioned why all strategic positions were occupied by Zimbabweans. We further questioned how the Zimbabwean [nationals] obtained the work permits, and we were ignored.”
Given government bailouts extended to other state-owned enterprises, the union said it would always remember how the SME Bank was “left to die”.
“As we are about to join the unemployed, we will be keeping a close eye on government. We will particularly follow closely if Air Namibia, TransNamib, NBC and other state-owned enterprises will be bailed out and remember how we were treated by our own government,” Zamuee said.
The union took issue with President Hage Geingob's silence on the SME Bank saga and said there was no prosperity for all in light of the developments at the commercial bank.
“Surely the president's campaign that no one should be left out has fallen on deaf ears. We are questioning if this is the road to what you call Harambee prosperity future,” said Zamuee.
Asked about the way forward, Zamuee said the union would now look to negotiate severance packages for its members.
“We expected the outcome. We are not naïve because nothing came as a surprise to us. We'll have to start the process of negotiations with the liquidators and management of the SME Bank and assess what the situation is,” Zamuee told Namibian Sun after the judgement had been delivered yesterday morning.
Judge Hannelie Prinsloo yesterday ruled that the bank be placed under the control of the Master of the High Court for provisional liquidation.
Ian Mclaren and David Bruni have been appointed by the Master of the High Court to manage the affairs of the SME Bank in the interim.
OGONE TLHAGE
The emphatic call was made by SME Bank employees yesterday at the handover of a petition to trade permanent secretary Gabriel Sinimbo.
Chanting slogans such as 'Down Bank of Namibia down' the emotional employees held up placards reading 'Job Muniaro Judas Iscariot' while waiting for Sinimbo to arrive to receive the petition.
Reading the petition, Nafinu general secretary Asnath Zamuee said the SME Bank was being made to pay the ultimate price for the individuals who had run the bank into the ground.
“We demand that action be taken against the culprits, freeze their accounts, seize their properties to government and lock them up,” Zamuee said while SME Bank employees were chanting 'We are innocent, we are innocent', 'Down Bank of Namibia down'.
“We believe that we are the sacrificial lambs in this process that involves Zimbabwean nationals who messed up the bank and are now back in their country, leading normal lives,” said Zamuee, alleging that the Zimbabwean employees affected had already secured jobs with a minority shareholder in the SME Bank, the Metropolitan Bank of Zimbabwe.
The SME Bank is a joint venture between the Namibian government (65%), the Metropolitan Bank of Zimbabwe (30%) and controversial Zimbabwean businessman Enock Kamushinda (5%).
SME Bank's previous board was made up of cabinet secretary George Simataa as chairman, Petrina Nakale, Theofelus Mberirua, Milka Mungunda, Kamushinda and Ozias Bvute, who also served as CEO.
Zamuee further alleged that Nafinu had brought questionable practices at the SME Bank to the attention of the Bank of Namibia in 2014 already but that its concerns had fallen on deaf ears.
“We told them about the millions being held in the petty cash account at the bank. Our concerns were met with silence and now we are the ones to pay the price of government's inability to control foreigners.”
She also claimed that the ministry of home affairs did not intervene when told about the large number of Zimbabweans who were working at the SME Bank without work permits.
The union also claimed that it had approached the ministry of home affairs to ask how expatriates, particularly Zimbabwean nationals, could hold positions at the SME Bank without the necessary permits.
“At the time we questioned why all strategic positions were occupied by Zimbabweans. We further questioned how the Zimbabwean [nationals] obtained the work permits, and we were ignored.”
Given government bailouts extended to other state-owned enterprises, the union said it would always remember how the SME Bank was “left to die”.
“As we are about to join the unemployed, we will be keeping a close eye on government. We will particularly follow closely if Air Namibia, TransNamib, NBC and other state-owned enterprises will be bailed out and remember how we were treated by our own government,” Zamuee said.
The union took issue with President Hage Geingob's silence on the SME Bank saga and said there was no prosperity for all in light of the developments at the commercial bank.
“Surely the president's campaign that no one should be left out has fallen on deaf ears. We are questioning if this is the road to what you call Harambee prosperity future,” said Zamuee.
Asked about the way forward, Zamuee said the union would now look to negotiate severance packages for its members.
“We expected the outcome. We are not naïve because nothing came as a surprise to us. We'll have to start the process of negotiations with the liquidators and management of the SME Bank and assess what the situation is,” Zamuee told Namibian Sun after the judgement had been delivered yesterday morning.
Judge Hannelie Prinsloo yesterday ruled that the bank be placed under the control of the Master of the High Court for provisional liquidation.
Ian Mclaren and David Bruni have been appointed by the Master of the High Court to manage the affairs of the SME Bank in the interim.
OGONE TLHAGE
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