The article titled “The Entreprenuer” by Julian Morris in the Times of Zambia of Thursday, January 9, 2014 issue was spot on concerning the notoriety of the so called Credit Reference Bureau (CRB).
This Bank Of Zambia (BOZ) engineered ‘machinery” is no doubt a financial and economic tragedy for most active Zambian entrepreneurs.
Like Julian alluded to the many nasty CRB and commercial bank experiences by his clients, I do not know what he is, though, I have equally suffered a 7-year ban to accessing any form of bank loan despite my having missed only two months’ repayments with one of the financial institutions on the Copperbelt.
This ommission occurred when my employer, one of the big copper mining companies in the Copperbelt Province, promoted me after which, by Company policy, at my new higher level the Company does not remit loan repayments to this financial institution. This, I did not know then until the said institution served me with a letter threatening to send bailifs to my premises if I did not settle my loan balance of K30,000 within 7 days!
My wife and I were so bitter by this turn of events that we panicked as we did not take kindly such eminent legal confrontation. We quickly borrowed the total amount and paid the institution off the loan balance within 3 days. We were so relieved when we paid. However, it was not long before we found out when seeking a loan application with Standard Chartered Bank that this financial institution had actually already posted a delinquency report with the bureau. What zeal!
We felt like we were criminals, in fact we still feel that same way!
Can Government please intervene and bring sanity among the money-lending institutions.
Otherwise, it looks like Bank of Zambia and the financial institutions are loving this inconveniencing of ordinary, law-abiding citizens and treating them like criminals.
This is not on!
Surely, what sort of Zambia are we creating? Honestly, one does not need to have a PhD in economics to appreciate the economic detriments of this Bureau. Can Government seriously get involved and bring sanity to the banking system before we lose the way too far?
Bravo Julius Morris!

Disappointed citizen,
Chingola.