EDITORIAL: Banks must address in-house money theft

A banking officer at Bank of Kigali’s Nyarutarama’s branch is arrested after Police investigations following the bank’s complaint of theft of up to Rwf7.7 million. Barely a week had passed after the Nyarutarama incident and Bank Populaire du Rwanda’s branch in Rutsiro District joins the rather embarrassing news. The Rutsiro branch manager and five others are arrested over theft of Rwf24 million. Two incidents, two banks, a lot of money and the banking institution in the court of public opinion. Might sound like brewing a storm in a cup of tea, but all aspects considered, the people consider the banking sector to be above suspicion. Therefore, when reports circulate that staffers keep conniving with their colleagues, janitors and security guards to walk away with millions of francs from banks, there definitely arises more than just two to three reasons to worry about how secure banks are. What is the chance of a banking officer, noticing that a one Sandra has saved up to Rwf35 million, will not be able to withdraw a portion of it when bankers begin to walk into vaults and return home with hefty envelopes of cash? Petty question. Yet that is exactly how the peasants reason. Two or four staffers at different banks walking away with money like that before Police manage to arrest them can give confidence to other staffers to find a way to merely evade suspicion and arrest and they will be millions richer. Banks cannot afford that. Neither can the public. Yet the fact that it has happened not once or twice but several times is enough reason to call bankers to arrest the rot. Is there some laxity in their system so that a single staffer should merely connive with a security guard and a cleaner and walk away with millions of francs? How best can these be fixed? Now is the time to act to reverse the trend.

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EDITORIAL: Banks must address in-house money theft