Kampala businessmen regret closure of Crane Bank as DFCU gives them 3 months to pay up or lose buildings

By Watchdog reporter

Of recent Kampala city traders have been staging on and off strikes accusing arcades owners of hiking monthly rent beyond their expectations and early this week one of the traders was shot dead by a security guard while trying to protest against the same issue.

Due to the rampant complaints from traders, arcade owners have also come out to express their dissatisfaction regretting the day DFCU took over Crane Bank.

They have revealed that they decided to hike rent because lending institutions like DFCU want to seize their buildings due to the limited time they gave them to clear off their loans.

According to some arcade owners, DFCU gave them only three months to pay all their loans or risk losing their buildings.

They say they had taken affordable loans from the now defunct Crane Bank with favourable terms and conditions. Some traders were given seven, 10 years and more to clear up the loans but when DFCU came in, it changed all the terms.

“Crane Bank had given us seven, 10 years and more to pay back the loans but DFCU changed the whole thing, it wants us to pay within three months or risk losing our buildings,” one of the arcade owners said adding that Crane Bank used to listen to them but DFCU doesn’t entertain any form of explaining.

Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) Spokesperson Issa Sekkitto says the arcade owners told him that they’re trying their best to save their property by hiking rent fees.

Meanwhile, a section of businessmen still insist that Crane Bank was grabbed by government to suppress people like them.