Time for inquiry into SME Bank

We will soon mark one year since the Bank of Namibia stripped the embattled SME Bank directors of their powers, following the widely-publicised alleged irregularities and questionable investments linked to financial instruments in South Africa. Despite the media uncovering large-scale instances of corruption at the SME Bank, the authorities ostensibly ignored the signs when journalists started raising red flags about the dodgy dealings at the institution. The dillydallying on the part of the authorities left the Bank of Namibia with no choice but to wind up the affairs of the SME Bank, after its management failed to recover about N$200 million invested in neighbouring South Africa. The bank was later liquidated and dozens of staff members were sent home after the business closed its doors. Shamelessly, this institution became a disgrace overnight, with records showing that it had dished out loans to the politically well-connected, as well as many Zimbabwean professionals running businesses in Namibia. So far the big questions have gone unanswered and the public especially still wants to know how the bank failed and why no one has been punished to this day. Apart from suspending directors, the fact that no individual has been found legally responsible for the failure has left us puzzled. The liquidators might have scored an important victory in court last week, after they were granted permission to pursue any proceedings in the high courts of both Zimbabwe and South Africa, in the hope of securing any information that could lead to criminal charges, but it is the shallow and superficial anti-corruption efforts that have left many dejected. Taxpayer money was spent on this mess of a project and the only proper way of dealing with this problem is to make those responsible pay. There is a need to have an inquiry into the affairs of the SME Bank, in order to expose the truth, and nothing but the truth. If the new administration prides itself on being accountable, then there should be no trouble at all in trying to get to the bottom of the matter.