BOZ SAYS IT’S IN POSSESSION OF QUESTIONABLE K65 MILLION FOR SAFEKEEPING

Lusaka ~ Thur, 23 Sept 2021

By Brightwell Chabusha

The Bank of Zambia has refuted media reports purporting that Bank officials were ordered to withdraw huge amounts of cash from the Bank to distribute to the third parties.

This follows insinuations around the K65, 330, 000 suspected to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained from a house in Lusaka’s new Kasama area, linking journalist Faith Musonda to it.

In a statement, BoZ Assistant Director for Communications Besnart Mwanza explained that the Central Bank does not hold accounts for individuals.

She said the money recovered from Lusaka was found packed in travelling bags and had to be transferred to the Bank of Zambia for safe keeping.

“As reported by Zambia Police Service, the money recovered in Lusaka was found packed in travelling bags and had to be transferred to the Bank of Zambia for safe keeping. This, therefore, necessitated the use of lockable and sealable trunks to safely transport the money from the point of seizure to the Bank,” Mwanza said.

“The Bank of Zambia does not hold accounts for individuals but interacts with the public in terms of the issuance of currency through commercial banks. The public only has access to currency through various channels offered by financial service providers such as Automated Teller Machines, over-the-counter and their agents. Members of the public cannot access cash directly from the Bank.”

She said the false reports suggesting otherwise have the potential to tarnish the image of the central bank and destabalise the financial sector and the economy.

Mwanza called on members of the general public desist from circulating false news.

“The matter under investigation on the seized cash is being handled by the Zambia Police to whom we refer any further queries,” she said.