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{
    "id": 644559,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/644559/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 127,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Wahome",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1700,
        "legal_name": "Alice Muthoni Wahome",
        "slug": "alice-muthoni-wahome"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for this opportunity. I rise to support Hon. Jude Njomo in bringing this Bill. It is truly timely to debate those matters at this moment. The banking industry is going through some form of a crunch or destabilisation because of the recent activities of three banks. I want us to interrogate the activities of the CBK as the banking sector regulator. I see that the Governor of the CBK has put these banks under receivership. It is good for us to appreciate that once a bank gets into a crisis where people rush to withdraw their money, it will not take two or three days before it collapses. We have a regulator who is supposed to be receiving reports from banks regularly. For us to know what truly happened with Imperial Bank and Chase Bank, where people lost or are likely to lose money, we need to know if the Deposit Protection Fund is working. Is there audit and regular feedback to the CBK, as the regulator? What happened? We have been told that Kshs8 billion was withdrawn in one day. The country is entitled to a report on the withdrawals that occurred on Wednesday. That is why the bank went down at midnight. We need to see how one bank is able to give people Kshs8 billion in a day and collapse the following day. I suspect that there are people within the directorship who withdrew money. I think it is right to do so. These people are culpable. We need to rein in the people even as we say we want to rein in the banks. It is individuals who are putting our people into this shame and pain. We want to see quick action from the authorities who are supposed to tell us the culprits. Even as we are told that Kshs8 billion was withdrawn on Wednesday, there are people who were waiting for their transfers of money for about three or four days or a week yet Kshs8 billion was withdrawn on Wednesday. There are some very serious questions that the CBK must answer. Therefore, I ask the Governor to be courageous enough and do his work as he has done. Much as we support him, we also do not want banks to go down like they did about 15 or 20 years ago. The Government must restore confidence in the banking industry. Of course, it is mostly small savers of Kshs20,000 or Kshs15,000 who need to be rescued quickly. We want to see quick action in terms of calling the small depositors to be cushioned by the Deposit Protection Fund. There must be some insurance. I am happy to see this House speaking in one voice at this particular time. Previous Parliaments attempted to cap interest rates. We know the banks. That is where money is. Other Parliaments have failed. It is for this House to rise and put a ceiling. Imagine I give my money to the bank and I get six per cent interest on it yet you are given the same money at between 18 per cent and 20 percent when you go to borrow it. It is illegal, questionable and immoral for banks to get three to four times interest. We have said that a bank should not get more than twice of what it has lent to a customer, but it is still happening. It is because of the very unclear penalty rates. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}