Beware of loan sharks on the loose, warns Siulapwa

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

A GOVERNANCE and social activist Daimone Siulapwa has accused the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) of creating fertile ground for predatory lending by lifting legal interest rate caps in November 2015.
Mr Siulapwa said the decision has unleashed a wave of abuse by both online platforms and licensed microfinance institutions, some of which are now charging interest rates of up to 50 percent for repayment periods as short as five days.
He described the practice as “unacceptable” and an attack on the dignity and economic survival of Zambians, adding that the crisis is worsened by unprincipled debt collection tactics, including harassment of borrowers, threats, and public shaming through phone calls, messages, and social media.
“To imagine that mobile network companies continue to allow these abuses to thrive on their systems without accountability makes Airtel, MTN and ZAMTEL equally complicit,” he said.
In formal letters to BoZ, the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA), Airtel, Zamtel, and MTN, Mr Siulapwa demanded urgent action.
His demands include reinstating legal maximum lending rates, conducting comprehensive investigations into all digital lending platforms and microfinance companies, publicly naming licensed lenders, shutting down unauthorised operators and introducing strict penalties for violations.
He also called for the adoption of ethical debt collection standards to prohibit harassment, intimidation, and unauthorised use of personal data.
Mr Siulapwa gave the central bank a 30-day ultimatum to act, warning that failure to do so would leave him and his team with no choice but to file an urgent constitutional petition to overturn the 2015 decision, pursue public interest litigation, and escalate the matter to regional and international financial and telecommunications regulators.
As things stand, this is no longer merely an economic issue. It is a national emergency touching on the rights, dignity and lives of many Zambians.
We will not sit idle while our people are terrorised by predatory lenders operating under the watch of regulatory institutions and network providers,” Mr Siulapwa declared.