No timeline for Chase Bank reopening: CBK

Chase Bank depositors were Thursday stranded at various branches as their efforts to withdraw their money were met with closed doors.

Long queues were seen early morning as the bank’s customers sought to withdraw their money following concerns that the bank was in trouble.

The Central Bank of Kenya, (CBK) on Thursday morning said it had put the lender, under statutory management for a year over “liquidity difficulties.”

CBK Governor Dr Patrick Njoroge in a follow up press conference said he did not have a timeline on when the lender would be reopened.

“We don't have a timeline on when Chase Bank will resume operations. It depends on shareholders capital injection,” he told journalists.

For the better part of the morning, most of the lender’s customers expressed frustration of their inability to withdraw their funds.

Medical procedure

One man, who said he is a businessmen but asked not to be named, arrived at one of the bank’s branches in the city to find it closed.

"I arrived to transact money to conclude a land a purchase deal but now it has stalled,” said the man in his 50s.

Another woman who only identified herself as Irene said her efforts to withdraw money for a medical procedure had been derailed by the closure.

She said she felt "annoyed" adding that she had been stranded.

A notice pinned on all the bank’s branches explained to customers that CBK had appointed the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) to assume the management and control of the bank for a period of 12 months pursuant to the provision of Section 34(2) (b) of the Banking Act and sections 43 and 53(1) of the Kenya Deposit Insurance Act 2012.