Africa-Press – Namibia. SWAPO Member of Parliament Veiko Nekundi has levelled allegations against the Bank of Namibia and commercial banks in Namibia, stating that they discriminate against disadvantaged Namibians and overcharge them on banking fees, despite the economic downturn experienced by many.
In his motion on investigating overcharges and unethical multiple charges by commercial banks in Namibia, resulting in over-profiting and the legacy of class and racial discrimination against clients by commercial banks in Namibia, Nekundi said that the central bank has failed to protect ordinary Namibians from being exploited by commercial banks.
“According to my basic research from last year, a loan application from a Black person takes three times longer to be approved than that from a white person. Additionally, Blacks always receive a very low average rating score compared to their white counterparts, which is used to determine the level of interest rate, space and scope for restructuring, collateral demands, and repayment terms. Honourable Members, like it or not, it is without a doubt that white clients are advantaged as their loans keep being refinanced, reconfigured, and restructured. Surely, this has a direct bearing on asset repossession and placement on the Information Trust Corporation (ITC) of black people: mind you, without the benefit of debt restructuring or debt refinancing, Blacks remain highly vulnerable to default,” Nekundi said.
He added that, according to research done by a South African chartered accountant, these banks not only unlawfully and unjustifiably charge their clients, but also deliberately perpetuate racial discrimination towards Black people and are still practicing the demonic legacy of apartheid against the masses of Black people in South Africa and other African countries.
Nekundi alleged that FNB and Standard Bank are the banks in Namibia that carry out these practices because they both have branches in Namibia and are the most widely used and well-liked banks in the country. “As a result, it is highly likely that these banks’ irrational, deliberate, and discriminatory actions are also being carried out in Namibia,” Nekundi said.
He added that perhaps the motion should be expanded to include an investigation of the Bank of Namibia to determine whether it is acting in the best interest of the majority, the previously disadvantaged, or whether the Bank is acting as a conduit of commercial banks in their strategic endeavour to continue providing discriminatory services, overcharging, and over-profiteering.
“The interest rates are pummeling our people, and they are becoming poorer, poorer, while the banks are becoming richer and richer. The unemployment rate is soaring, the inflation rate is soaring, and it is becoming worse. We need practical monetary solutions to reduce this predicament. When the small toe is hurting, the whole body pains, and when the rich wage a war, it is the poor that suffer,” Nekundi said.
The Parliamentarian shared examples and stated that FNB alone charges not less than 138 different fees, and in some cases, SMEs are losing on average N$l 80-1000 every month depending on the transactions made on unjustifiable bank charges alone.
“In another article published by the lnformanté Newspaper in April 2022, titled: ‘Bank of Namibia Criticized for Exorbitant Banking Fees,’ it again came to light that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economics and Public Administration has blasted the Bank of Namibia (BON) for the overpriced banking fees charged by commercial banks in the country, stating that the over N$10 billion profits made by banks during 2021 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic were disadvantageous to the ordinary men and women on the streets,” Nekundi said.
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