Stanbic Bank clients in Luwero are protesting the persistent break down of the Automatic Teller Machine and poor service delivery at the bank. The ATM has been off for the past one week, while the one in Wobulenzi town is shut down during power outages. As a result, several clients of the bank are left with no option but to travel to Kampala and other neighboring places to avoid the long queues in the Luwero branch.
The bank clientele includes teachers, UPDF soldiers, medical workers and businessmen. Mutwalib Namulome, a UPDF soldier from Bombo army barracks is one such client who is not happy with the services of the bank. Namulome explains that he recently took off some time from his job to pickup some money from the ATM but was shocked to find it off yet he had no transport money.
The soldier says that he is considering closing down the account because the branch does not listen to their complaints. Another client, Lawrence Kisegerwa a peasant farmer from Luwero says that he has been trying to use the service since Saturday in vain. Kisegerwa says that on Monday he tried to access money from the ATM in Wobulenzi town council but found both the ATM and counter services unavailable due lack of power.
He now says that he has failed to get back to take back his children to school and is now considering withdrawing from the bank. Stella Nakibuuka, a worker at Luweero local government says that the Stanbic Bank ATM has been down for several days but nothing has been done to fix it. Nakibuuka explains that they spend a lot of money to travel a long distance to access their money from the ATM but find it out of service.
‘’Cue in; but on many occasions…………………………..’’
//cue out; …customers’rescue’’
The customers accuse the staff of the bank of being negligent and they demanded an urgent action or else they opt for other banking service providers. When URN reporter visited the Stanbic Bank the ATM today it was still down. Some of the officials of the bank who spoke to URN on condition of anonymity confirmed the break down of the ATM machine but said they had communicated with their head office to have it fixed. But Daniel Nsibambi, the Stanbic Bank public Relations office told URN that they were not aware of the problem. He however promised to call the officials in the bank to look into the clients’ complaints.
