only about a fourth of the cases pending at the beginning of the year are disposed off during the year – suggesting a four year wait even if the tribunals focus only on old cases. however, in 2013 – 14, the number of new cases filed during the year was about one and a half times the cases disposed off during the year. thus backlogs and delays are growing, not coming down. why is this happening? the judgments of the drts can be appealed to debt recovery appellate tribunals, and while there are 33 of the former, there are only five of the latter. and even though section 18 of the rddbfi act is intended to prevent higher constitutional courts from intervening routinely in drt and drat judgments, the honourable supreme court recently lamented that bis central bankers ’ speeches “ it is a matter of serious concern that despite the pronouncements of this court, the high courts continue to ignore the availability of statutory remedies under the rddbfi act and sarfaesi act and exercise jurisdiction under article 226 for passing orders which have serious adverse impact on the right of banks and other financial institutions to recover their dues. ” 1 the consequences of the delays in obtaining judgements because of repeated protracted appeals implies that when recovery actually takes place, the enterprise has usually been stripped clean of value. the present value of what the bank can hope to recover is a pittance. this skews bargaining power towards the borrower who can command the finest legal brains to work for him in repeated appeals, or the borrower who has the influence to obtain stays from local courts – typically the large borrower. faced with this asymmetry of power, banks are tempted to cave in and take the unfair deal the borrower offers. the bank ’ s debt becomes junior debt and the promoter ’ s equity becomes super equity. the promoter enjoys riskless capitalism – even in these times of very slow growth, how many large promoters have lost their homes or have had to curb their lifestyles despite offering personal guarantees to lenders? the public believes the large promoter makes merry because of sweet deals between him and the banker. while these views have gained currency because of recent revelations of possible corruption in banks, my sense is that occam ’ s razor suggests a more relevant explanation – the system renders the banker helpless vis - a - vis the large and influential promoter. while we should not slow our efforts to bring better governance and more transparency to banking, we

ground breaking ceremony of the new barclays bank zambia plc head office speech by dr. denny h. kalyalya governor – bank of zambia thursday, june 6, 2019 lusaka, zambia ground breaking ceremony of the new barclays bank zambia plc head office funded by the absa group limited, speech by dr. denny h. kalyalya, governor – bank of zambia – 6 june 2019 the absa group ceo, mr rene van wyk ; the director, bank supervision department, boz, ms. gladys mposha ; the director, economics department, boz, dr. francis chipimo ; the deputy group ceo and ceo absa regional operations, mr peter matlare ; deputy ceo, absa regional operations & chief operating officer absa cib, mr temi ofong ; the barclays bank zambia board chairperson, ms chishala kateka ; the barclays bank zambia managing director, mrs mizinga melu ; executives from absa group ; representatives from sunshare ; staff from boz ; management and staff of barclays bank zambia plc ; distinguished invited guests ; and members of the press. it is my great pleasure to officiate at this ground - breaking event of barclays bank zambia plc new head office. distinguished guests, the construction of the new head office for barclays bank zambia plc, which will be rebranded as absa bank zambia from next year, is a demonstration of the efforts and commitment by absa group limited to become a pan - african organisation, that is interested in the sustainable development of the financial sector and the economies of the countries they operate in. ladies and gentlemen, this event, also marks a new chapter for one of zambia ’ s oldest banks. barclays bank zambia has been in the country for over a century having opened its first branch in june 1918. today, the bank has a widespread presence across the country with 41 branches, 103 atms, and other digital service delivery channels. it employs in excess of 800 staff. distinguished guests, barclays bank zambia is one of the biggest banks in the zambian banking industry and plays a significant role in the market through the various products and services as just indicated. it is our expectation that absa group limited, the parent company of barclays bank zambia plc, will continue to build on the foundation and heritage that has been established over the last century. the bank is expected to remain a committed partner in driving financial sector development and supporting the country ’ s