×
NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

Minister’s wife loses house to bank

News
THE High Court has ordered the sale of Zimbabwe Media Commission member Millicent Mombeshora’s Borrowdale house in a bid to repay a debt owed to Kingdom Bank.

THE High Court has ordered the sale of Zimbabwe Media Commission member Millicent Mombeshora’s Borrowdale house in a bid to repay a debt owed to Kingdom Bank.

Acting Business Editor

According to a notice issued by a local real estate firm, Homeland Real Estate, yesterday, Mombeshora’s two-storey residential property situated in the upmarket residential area would today be placed under the hammer as financial institutions report a surge in non-performing loans.

Millicent is married to Lands minister Douglas Mombeshora.

The house is one of nearly 40 other properties expected to be auctioned today as local banks recover debts.

Although the amount of debt could not be established, estimates show that Mombeshora’s house could be valued at over $300 000.

“Duly instructed by the sheriff of the High Court, we (Homeland Real Estate) will be offering the following immovable properties for sale by public auction to be held at Raylton Sports Club . . . on December 6, 2013 commencing at 10am,” the notice reads in part.

“In the matter between: Kingdom Bank Limited vs Dr Millicent Mombeshora — a certain piece of land situate in the district of Salisbury called 110 Quinington also known as Quinington Borrowdale, Harare.”

Experts say large commercial banks with strong shareholder support have, however, managed to weather the storm at a time when small banks, predominantly locally-owned, are facing viability problems due to high levels of non-performing loans.

They say low disposable income on the back of an underperforming economy has resulted in a high appetite for credit.

According to a banking sector survey carried out by a local brokerage and advisory firm, bad debt constituted 13,8% of the $3,67 billion loan book as at June 30.

The Zimbabwe banking sector, according to the Bankers’ Association of Zimbabwe, continues to experience funding challenges and the major obstacle to growth has been the slowdown in deposit growth.

Total banking deposits, at $3,84 billion as at June 30 2013, were 1,29% lower than the prior year.

The last half of the year has seen most banks adopting a conservative lending approach to contain non-performing loans.

A banking sector survey carried out by a local brokerage and advisory firm shows that the country’s big four by deposits — CBZ, CABS, Stanchart and Stanbic — accounted for 56,1% of total deposits as of June this year.

Demand of deposits constituted 52,1% of the total deposits followed by savings and short-term deposits which also constituted 33,8%.

Long-term deposits accounted for 14,1% of the total deposits. This shows that only a small fraction of total deposits (14,1%) was available for long-term asset creation by banks.