Allied Bank property attached

By Tarisai Mandizha

More woes continued to haunt Transport minister Obert Mpofu’s collapsed Allied Bank with the Deputy Sheriff yesterday pouncing on the bank’s property in Harare in a bid to recover more than $1,5 million owed to Zimbabwe Amalgamated Housing Association (Zaha).

This follows cancellation of the bank’s licence by the central bank on Thursday after it was established that the institution was no longer in a safe and sound condition. The Deputy Sheriff attached various goods at Allied Bank’s five branches located in Harare.

Zaha president Killer Zivhu confirmed that the association was owed over $1,5 million by the troubled bank.

Zivhu said Zaha was granted a writ of execution against the bank on December 12 2014, but the association relaxed after it was assured the bank had secured an investor.

“It’s a very disappointing development, these guys owe us more than $1,5 million. We had an agreement that we give them money and they give our people services. Allied Bank didn’t pay the money that we gave them two years ago and for the past months we have been trying to recover the money,” Zivhu said.

He said he was no longer sure if the association would recover the money from the bank, as currently the bank was only left with a few desks, chairs and computers.

Zivhu blamed the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for allowing incapacitated banks to operate thereby shortchanging depositors.

He, however, assured Zaha members that the project would continue and was targeted for completion by the end of September this year.

“I would want to promise our clients that measures were taken long back after realising that Allied Bank was heading for closure. We are targeting to finish the project by September 2015 and all the service providers which were supposed to be paid by Allied Bank measures have been put in place.

“Most of them have already received their amounts and one or two which have left arrangements have been put in place so that they get their money,” he said.

Allied Bank has been facing liquidity constraints since its formation a few years ago after it failed to attract a new investor to bolster its capital and liquidity position. NewsDay