Another Zanu PF linked bank, Royal Bank surrendered its licence last week amid revelations that the bank was involved in serious abuse of depositors’ funds and is burdened by non-performing insider loans among a cocktail of operational irregularities.

It becomes the third bank to close in as many months. One of the banks which closed its doors is Genesis Bank which is owned a senior Zanu PF politician Saviour Kasukuwere.

The chairperson for Royal Bank is Peter Chikumba.

Chikumba is the former chief executive of Air Zimbabwe. During his tenure at Air Zimbabwe, Chikumba played an influential role in grounding the national airline. A report from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said Chikumba and other shareholders were unrepentant and abused funds in the same manner that saw the bank collapse in 2004.

Kasukuwere and David Chapfika, the two Zanu PF politicians pushing for the takeover of foreign owned banks are linked to two failed banks which have been closed down due the two politicians’ shady dealings.

Kasukuwere, the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment is linked to the closure of Genesis while Chapfika is linked to Unibank, another closed bank.

Chapfika is the chairperson of the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board. The two were major shareholders in the two failed banks.
Kasukuwere and Chapfika have been ruled unfit to call for indigenisation because of their past and that their indigenisation drive is a scorched earth policy.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono has put out the claws on Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere and his empowerment fixer David Chapfika, saying they were unfit to preside over the localisation of foreign banks.

Gono said anyone associated with a failed bank was not fit to deal with banking matters or to ever own, run or talk about the ownership of a bank again. “The fact that the two main proponents (Chapfika and Kasukuwere) of the recent illogical moves have presided over the failure of their two banks before, namely Unibank and Genesis, call for Solomonic wisdom on the part of Zimbabwe’s population and leadership,” Gono said.

Karikoga Kaseke, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Chief Executive  said there was wide abuse of the empowerment drive by senior Zanu PF members. Hon. Tendai Biti the MDC Secretary-General and Finance Minister has dismissed Zanu PF’s calls for empowerment as nothing but another attempt by Zanu PF to kill the country’s economy.

“There is no need for one to takeover a commercial bank.  If you want a bank come to me as the Minister of Finance and Gideon Gono and we will give you the licence to start a bank,” said Hon. Biti.

“We need to be careful with how to proceed, otherwise we destabilise the economy.  Those regulations are void; they are of no legal effect, an absolute nullity.  In any case, if you indigenise a bank what are you indigenising?  A building or computers,” said Hon. Biti.