Zimbabwe bank refuses to give Mugabe’s son a huge business loan
Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, party loving and skirt chasing young son to Zimbabwe President Mugabe has been refused a US$380000 bank loan, Zimbabwe Independent has revealed.
The 19 year old got the biggest lesson and shock of his life last month when he walked into a BancABC bank, Mt Pleasant where he applied for a business loan.
They told him to get lost!
Chatunga, well known in social circles for smoking mbanje and partying thought he would use his last name as a passport to easy money but was shamed by bank workers who told him point blank he does not have a good credit record for such a loan.
Mugabe’s son could have made the move knowing well that a number of business people and companies in Zimbabwe have made money by corruptly using Mugabe’s name and Zanu PF networks, or name-dropping.
Chatunga’s loan application came at a time when his own family business empire, Gushungo Holdings, has been surviving on bank loans which it is struggling to service.
Gushungo Holdings, touted as a model of success to sanitise the disastrous land reform programme, is reeling under an unsustainable US$20 million debt. The situation has been exacerbated by perennial losses incurred by its subsidiary Alpha Omega Dairy (Pvt) Ltd, forcing the First Family to seek bailouts to rescue the company.
Sources said the President’s son — who has business interests in retail and entertainment — had a meeting with Lincoln Farai Chirinda who works for BancABC’s corporate finance department to get money. His proposal, the sources said, was however rejected by the financial institution, citing high political risk.
“Chatunga approached the bank around August 23 for a loan. He wanted to secure funding for his business interests, but this application was rejected by the corporate finance department,” a banking source said. “The bank is currently owed millions by many politically exposed individuals and businesses, and thus its management is now strict on lending.”
The bank’s management is yet to give a comment on Chatunga loan application
