(LUSAKATIMES) More condemn Finance Bank takeover

More condemn Finance Bank takeover
Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 8:19

Opposition UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has said the takeover of Finance Bank Zambia Ltd by the Central Bank is bad news for investment in the country. Mr. Hichilema has since accused the government of orchestrating the move to bring down Finance Bank chairman Dr. Raja Mahtani because he was not in good books with the ruling party.

He said the possible nationalization of Finance Bank is a sign that any indigenous Zambian investor who has differences with government would risk having their business takeover by the powers that be. Mr. Hichilema told Radio Phoenix in Lusaka that local business operators in the country would now be operating in fear of their businesses being ceased seized.

“This is bad news for the country, and it is bad news for democracy because it means anyone who has a different opinion from the MMD they can take over your business, that is not how you run a country.

We are going back to the one-party state dictatorship. We are threatening democracy because people will not say what they think because if it’s different from the MMD, then you lose business. We are way into one-party state dictatorship where if you are a farmer and you differed with Kaunda, your farm is taken away from you,” said Hichilema.

And business consultant Bob Sichinga says government would have used a better alternative in handling the shareholding in Finance Bank. He said the move of nationalizing the bank would put the institution in an awkward position.

“It seems to me that this was an orchestrated move to put Finance Bank in an awkward move to ensure that the bank is in this situation. There are many people in the industry who do not like Mr. Mahtani’s style of doing business. But in terms of the actual actions against a bank, which is separate from Mr. Mahtani, I think that another process should have taken course. The whole process to me is a plan to sort out Finance Bank,” he said.

Meanwhile, Change Life Zambia Executive Director Fr Frank Bwalya has condemned government’s decision to take over Finance Bank.

Father Bwalya says the move by government showed how scared the ruling party was ahead of next year’s elections.

Speaking to Qfm in an interview, Fr. Bwalya said the takeover of the bank was a political scheme arising from the Drug Enforcement Commission’s investigation of PF leader Michael Sata on allegations of money laundering.

He said it was regrettable that government could not even give a satisfactory explanation to justify the takeover of Finance bank.

Fr Bwalya added that the takeover was political, it was clear that money laundering allegations against Mr Sata emanated from Finance Bank.