BIG CRISIS AT ROKEL BANK
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara
One of Sierra Leone’s indigenous banks, Rokel Commercial Bank is currently in deep crisis as there seems to be no money in the bank.
For over a month now, customers of the bank are finding it almost impossible to withdraw cash from their various accounts despite having enough funds in them.
This situation has now deteriorated to a point that a lady in Freetown recently lost her mother because the bank could not pay her as low as five million Leones which she had wanted to use to pay her mother’s medical bill despite having more than enough money in her account.
One explanation has been given as to what may have caused the current crisis but sources say it cannot be unconnected to poor management at the bank and the many unsecured loans the bank has been dishing out to mostly politicians of the current regime.
Information gathered by Salone Compass revealed that Rokel Commercial Bank through the help of some officials at the Bank of Sierra Leone, has been allegedly dishing out unsecured loans to politically exposed persons of the current administration.
In one among many instances, a certain minister in the Bio led government was allegedly given a whopping 30 billion Leones unsecured loan for reason still unclear.
Documents in possession of this medium reveal how hundreds of billions of unsecured loans have been indiscriminately dished out to politically exposed persons allegedly by the bank with the help of some top officials at the Central Bank of Sierra Leone.
While politicians are busy emptying the volts of Rokel Commercial Bank, customers of the bank are being left stranded with no access to their monies kept in the bank.
As it stands, no customer of RCB is able to withdraw more than two million five hundred thousand Leones no matter the purpose. Even the said amount can only be withdrawn through lobbying top officials of the bank.
Such is the current fate of customers of Rokel Commercial Bank although the Public relations Officer of the Bank said the situation is not peculiar to them. According to the bank’s PRO, cash shortage is presently happening at all Banks in the country.
In subsequent edition, this medium will publish lists containing amounts and names of politically exposed persons who have taken billions of unsecured loans at the Rokel Commercial Bank with the help of some central bank officials.