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Livingstone Marufu
MINERVA Risk Advisors — administrators of AfrAsia Bank Zimbabwe Limited’s pension fund — are banking on quick liquidation of the defunct bank’s property to fully settle employees’ pensions, but the obtaining liquidity crunch has resulted in a low uptake of properties, a top executive has said.
Only US$2 million was paid to the employees on in August this year out of the US$6 million owed in pension packages.
Nine months after the financial institution closed shop, doubts still linger among restive former employees if they will get the packages.
Minerva Risk Advisors GM Mr Timothy Nherudzo told The Sunday Mail Business last week that most of the employees’ pensions were trapped in immovable assets, hence the need to quickly sell them off. “Funds are tied in properties and bonds which are currently under disposal. A claim has also been lodged with AfrAsia Bank’s liquidator for recovery of assets that were invested under AfrAsia Bank.
“We know the importance of paying the ex-AfrAsia workers but the disposal of immovable assets is not an easy task given the liquidity crunch that we are currently experiencing as a country.
“The remedy is to pay outstanding benefits when the assets have been liquidated. Unfortunately we cannot give specific time-lines until there is a definitive offer for the property,” said Mr Nherudzo.
AfrAsia Bank Zimbabwe, formerly Kingdom Bank Africa Limited, had its licence cancelled by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on February 24, 2015 after it became financially unsound.
After the bank’s closure, the pension fund Trustees of AfrAsia Holdings were appointed liquidators to wind up the fund to avoid costs that come with an external liquidator. Former group CEO Mrs Lynn Mukonoweshuro was appointed the principal officer or chairperson.
Industry expert Mr Martin Tarusenga, who is GM of the Zimbabwe Pensions and Insurance Rights Trust, said there were inherent structural weaknesses in most pension funds as they had subverted boards, with company executives being forwarded as trustees – often resulting in conflict of interest.
“The problem is that most workers are often ignorant of how their pension funds are run and most unions are either ignorant or lack the expertise to supervise such funds or even hold the trustees to account.
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