OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Friday 3.30pm.
THE Zimbabwean central bank on Friday refused to publicly release its long-awaited report into collapsed “indigenous” bank of Roger Boka. The central bank instead passed the report on the collapse of Boka’s United Merchant Bank on the the justice ministry and police officials. It is thought that the report could deeply embarrass government and ruling party officials.
The damning report was, however, on Thursday leaked to the Financial Gazette newspaper which published details of the allegations as reported in ZA*NOW. The disclosures are expected to deeply embarrass the government and ruling party leaders who supported an outspoken campaign by Boka for black economic advancement, “indigenisation”. Loans, some to politicians, were granted imprudent and corruptly, draining funds from the bank’s dwindling reserves and causing its own checks to bounce, the report said.
Furthermore, “UMB was grossly mismanaged and was operated in total disregard of laws, rules and regulations,” Reserve Bank Governor Leonard Tsumba said in the central bank report. The reports also detailed “rampant violations” of hard currency regulations by Boka. The government itself is owed more than $30-million by the collapsed bank after the state had to honor fake investment bills sold by Boka on behalf of government-owned enterprises.
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