Sharia friendly bank to open 25 branches

An Islamic bank plans to open 25 branches throughout the country as it spreads its Sharia-oriented services to both Muslims and Christians.

Officials of Gulf African Bank of Kenya said within three months of its operation in Kenya, the institution had accumulated deposits amounting to Sh1.1 billion.

The bank’s chief executive, Najmul Hassan, speaking during a day’s seminar in Mombasa on Monday, said their services had been received well by Kenyans and this was the reasons why they had an expansion programme “to reach every corner of the country”.

“We came from Pakistan with this Sharia compliant banking system and we have been overwhelmed by the response from both Muslims and Christians,” he said.

Overwhelmed

He explained that to moralise its banking system the bank would adhere strictly to the principles of Sharia with ‘absolutely no compromise’.

“Gulf African Bank is recognised today as a leading Sharia compliant financial institution,” he said adding that its Sharia supervisory board was run by renowned Islamic scholars.

The bank’s activities according to the CEO were being monitored by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and other institutions related to Islamic banking.

On the conventional banking system, Mr Hassan said this had impoverished many people due to its interest of making ‘huge profits’ from its clientele.

Demystify

To demystify banking, the chief executive said that Gulf African would not operate with the interest of using money as commodity to give ‘little’ and gain ‘more’ from its clientele.

“Money should be a medium of exchange with the sole aim of liberating humanity and creating wealth to the society,” he said.

Nominated MP Sheikh Mohamed Dor (ODM) said the banking industry should assist Kenyans to manage their money rather than exploiting them.

“How many people are being declared bankrupt because of not being able to pay their loans?” he posed, saying financial institutions should be flexible when dealing with their clients.

Sheikh Ali Shee, former Coast representative at the Bomas constitutional conference, decried what he said was the exploitation of clients by conventional banking saying it has not ‘liberated’ people from financial constraints.