Agribank, two years ago, came guns blazing in defense of its now resigned board chairperson, Michael Iyambo, after accusations that he had used his power to get preferential treatment from the bank.
Iyambo, it has now come out, has been asked to resign from the board as chairperson by the finance ministry, citing conflict of interest issues.
Back in 2019 when the loan revelations were made, the bank was in the midst of running battles with previously disadvantaged commercial farmers who were protesting threats of farms repossession for failing to pay their loans.
Sources from within this group, which has since morphed into a union, raised red flags saying Iyambo was using his power to benefit himself at the bank.
The farmers said Iyambo had a loan with Agribank amounting to more than N$20 million which he was struggling to pay back.
They also said that the bank chose to give him another loan on top of this.
The bank chose to zip its mouth around Iyambo’s account.
Agribank told this reporter that they do not “discuss individual loan account details with third parties including the media as such information is confidential between the Bank and the individual loan holder”.
The bank did accept that indeed Iyambo, who was also the Chairperson of Agribank Board of Directors, was a client of the bank.
“From the status of his accounts, the bank cannot classify him as „struggling to pay back his loans,” Agribank said by way of response.
However, the bank was quick to say the amount being quoted as being the loan advanced to him was merely exaggerated.
They could not, invoking the rule of client confidentiality, disclose how much their chairperson had as loan from the bank.
“As a matter of policy, the bank treats Mr. Iyambo’s account in exactly the same way as it treats all other accounts. This means that he is expected to repay his loans or, if necessary, make appropriate repayment arrangements which he must honour. We do not have exceptions to this requirement and it would indeed be good to prove factually otherwise,” said Agribank.
Iyambo was further accused by the farmers of transferring his corporate loan to Bank Windhoek back to Agribank when he became the chairperson, which got restructured.
It was also said that Agribank allowed him to shift his installments three times and that these loans were not even 100% secured.
The bank beat back at these accusations stating that they financed different products and that it was common “for one client to have multiple loans with the bank”.
On his installments, Agribank said it was only aware of one approval of installment shift for Iyambo.
Agribank went on to state that they were requirements that had to be fulfilled first, which Iyambo met before the shift occurred.
“Any requests from Mr. Iyambo would be dealt with in exactly the same manner as any other client’s request. Mr. Iyambo knows and appreciates this fact; so, do all employees dealing with applications of this nature. The bank has gone on record numerous times advising our clients to come in individually and make repayment arrangements that suit their unique circumstances. That call still remains and we continue to be accommodative to our clients who come forth to make the necessary repayment arrangements,” said the bank.
Although the finance minister has now forced Iyambo to resign, when the loan issue surfaced, the bank bashed back at sources that disclosed this information.
Agribank then said it was “unfortunate that the so called previously disadvantaged farmer goes to the extent of trying to create a false impression that something is amiss and that the bank is providing preferential treatment to a client”.
The bank also said that to suggest that it was treating Iyambo with soft hands was far-fetched, describing him as simply one of the clients who were trying to respond to the bank’s call to ensure their repayment arrangements were in order.
HOW AGRIBANK DEFENDED ITS RESIGNED BOARD CHAIRPERSON
