Cash queues worsen; Mugabe enjoys abroad

Cash queues worsen; Mugabe enjoys abroad

Thursday, December 29, 2016 6:13 AM GMT

by: Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE’S 92-year-old leader happily flew to the Far East for the festive holidays.

He left his country to endure a holiday from hell with many spending days queuing to withdraw money from banks despite the promised respite of the so-called bond notes.

President Robert Mugabe is in Singapore with his family for their annual vacation – far from the madding crowd and the madding situation created, critics say, by the incompetence of the government he leads.

Ahead of Christmas, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) introduced a controversial surrogate currency which, authorities claimed, would help a liquidity crisis the country has long struggled with.

But the cash shortages continue and queues at banking halls get longer by the day.

“I went to the bank at 7am and was given 200 as my queue number. By the time the bank closed in the afternoon I had yet to get to the doors.

“So tomorrow I must get to the bank at around 5 am and hope for better luck,” said a Harare woman earlier this week.

Asked the next day whether the situation had improved, she said: “I eventually managed to get some money but not as much as I needed. It's barely enough for rent.

“Two women I saw in the queue yesterday were here again today and they told me they had slept at the bank because they are actually from Mutoko.”

Across the capital on Wednesday, long queues were evident at Ecobank branch along Nelson Mandela Avenue, CABS branches along First and Simon Muzenda streets, FBC Bank along Nelson Mandela Avenue, Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe along First Street and Standard Chartered Bank along Nelson Mandela Avenue.

Although the RBZ recently released more of the bond notes and increased withdrawal limits, banks are still struggling to cope with some giving as little as $100 per day while ATMs are effectively on holiday.



Frustrated with service at an Ecobank branch one woman complained: “My child is in hospital. It is so painful that I am unable to go and visit my child today.

“This bank should improve on its service to clients. Only 200 clients have been served today and I have not been among the lucky ones. They should communicate with clients because things will change for the better one day and the bank will also need us.”

Another client added: “Banks are not the problem. Let us not accuse bank staff.

“Our leaders are the problem. These have failed us because they have destroyed our economy through corruption and mismanagement.

“Ecobank performance has been good for a long time and we can only blame their customer service which is almost ineffective.

“We do want to blame the bank but, the economy is the problem. Banks are a symptom and not the problem.”

When contacted for comment on the matter Tichaona Gandanhamo of Ecobank Public Relations department apologised for the poor service.

“We would not encourage such behaviour from our staff. We will investigate on the complaints raised,” he said.

The central bank recently released another $12 million worth of bond notes on to the market, less than a month after they were first introduced.

The surrogate currency was first introduced at the end of November and now there is about $29 million in circulation.



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