Time Bank of Zimbabwe limited is set to re open on Dec 1 after closing since 2004 following a legal dispute with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).
Founded by Mr Chris Wesley Takura Tande, Time Bank was licensed and began functioning in 1997.
However in 2004, a number of banks including the Time Bank were closed and had their licenses cancelled by the RBZ.
After many years of dispute and court cases against the RBZ, in 2015, RBZ governor, John Mangudya finally resolved the dispute and agreed to renew Time Bank’s license and refund them their US$5 million which it had unlawfully taken from them and now the bank is ready to re open.
In a statement yesterday, Time Bank said they will be providing government with a loan facility from which Previous Farm Owners (PFO) could be paid their compensation.
“The purpose of the facility is to finance the payment of compensations by government to PFOs who are covered by the Global Compensation Deed. The compensation amount will be paid through Time Bank by government to the PFO and Time Bank will pay such compensation amount in United States dollars, cash or bank transfer.
“Interested PFOs will be required to submit application forms to Time Bank for payment. The maximum payment amount is US$10 000 per PFO, at any given time. Additional amounts will be given in due course. A letter of confirmation from government is required which forms that the government will repay the loan amount to Time Bank.” The bank said.
In July 2020 the government committed to paying US3,5 billion as compensation to about 4000 former commercial white farmers through the Global Compensation Deed.
The government has however, struggled, to pay the US$3,5 billion with treasury indicating this year that only 53 million has so far been paid to 737 PFOs.