Twiga bank clients’ miseries pile up

Dar es Salaam. Twiga Bancorp opened some of its branches for a single day yesterday and allowed its large clients to withdraw only 10 per cent of their savings.

Small customers were allowed to withdraw a maximum of Sh400,000.

A survey at the Twiga Bank Headquarters Branch saw scores of customers trying to withdraw money from the Bank that was placed under statutory management by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) 12 days ago after it became grossly decapitalised.

The government-owned bank would resume operations later after being re-capitalised, the BoT said in a statement last Sunday.

But a number of customers expressed disappointment on the abrupt manner in which the bank stopped operations and on how the issues pertaining to customers deposits in the bank were currently being handled.

Speaking to journalists in his office, the Statutory manager of the Bank, Mr Nkanwa Magina, said branches that opened yesterday included the Dar es Salaam branches (Mlimani City, Kariakoo and Mwalimu Nyerere International Airport) as well as the Dodoma, Mwanza and Arusha Branches.

The Dar es Salaam’s Kigamboni Branch would remain closed as its customers have been shifted to the Headquarters Branch along Samora Avenue. The Bunda Branch in Mara Region will open on Monday.

He said customers would be notified in future on when braches would be opened.

He mentioned services that would continue be given to customers in the interim period as withdrawals of deposits at a rate that has been set depending on the size and type of a customer’s account, opening up of new accounts and repayments of loans.

“We urge our customers to seek clarifications from the Bank’s customer service before performing any transactions either through ATMs or mobile money services,” he said.

In another development, he said the bank will continue holding money for clients with fixed deposits accounts for six more months after the expiry of the previously agreed period at the same interest rate.

Kiota Women’s Health and Development (Kiwohede) Programme administrator Eda Kawale told The Citizen that she had come to the bank to close down the organisation’s account only to be told that she could only withdraw 10 per cent of the money in the account.

“This is not fair. We are helping children who currently have no food to eat,” she said.