Of all the Banking Sector clean-up exercises, the one that hit me to the core of my soul was UT Bank; I was broken and shattered…literally.
And this wasn’t because UT Bank was my client most of those Banks (85%) were my clients, for instance, my firm (Websoft) had re-designed Capital Bank’s new Internet Banking and we were getting ready to launch it when the bank sank.
Up till today, Beige Bank owes me for I.T works done in their 75 branches which were completed and signed off by them, my payment was being processed by their finance department when the Bank was shot down and all payments seized, till this day, my company’s payment record is with KPMG the Receiver and we haven’t been paid a pesewa, trust me, it’s a lot of money when you hear an I.T company tell you he is owed for works done in 75 branches of a Bank. I have forgotten about that money because I don’t foresee Government paying us in any distant future. So what will make UT more painful to me than Beige? Because of PK’s impact on me.
Sorry, I digressed. This man, Prince Kofi Amoabeng (PK, as I and those close to him call him) is a legend; I have no words to describe him. He built a world-class Business all from tabletop in Kantamanto to a high-rise edifice in the heart of Airport City. Full of grits, humility, and compassion – yes, he is deeply compassionate and I think that is one part of him that many people far away didn’t get to see, I will attempt to tell you a short story.
In the early stages of my business, say over a decade ago, I used to take small loans of like 500 Cedis from UT to help me attend to my customers by providing them computers to run my Point of Sale Software, and then the client pays me back later. One time I had defaulted so many times. But I had one attitude which I still do today; if I ever owe you, I will never ignore your calls I will call you more often to remind you that I haven’t forgotten, and even if I forget and you call me I will pick it up and reassure you. I think this character triggered PK’s compartment of compassion in his heart, I once met him after I had gone through a rough week, I was knackered, despondent, exasperated, and void of steam to push on.
In my simple dress, I decided to visit PK and pour out my heart to him on how I had been frustrated in paying UT Bank, the loan was attracting interest very fast, the client I bought the PC for, who was supposed to pay me so I can pay UT, had closed shop and can’t be found, so it had become a debt on my neck. Believe me, at that time, 750 Cedis was worth more in value to me then than probably 100,000cedis today.
PK, first of all, ordered that I am served tea or coffee so I relax in his office – I was surprised!
After I explained myself to him and showed him how much effort I had been putting to pay. He asked if I will be happy for him to extend the repayment period further at no extra interest, he froze the interest and gave me a moratorium of several months more – I can’t remember exactly how many months now, but it was sufficient to give me a breathing space to go and work harder to pay them.
It didn’t end there, can you believe that the next day PK called me to check up on me and ask if my office had been opened and whether I have resumed work? I was pleasantly surprised, that is how Pk and I became close. Anytime you visit Pk, you will be inspired, refreshed, encouraged, and blessed. His vision gave birth to a lot of younger entrepreneurs who were helped with seed capital when other older banks were unwilling to help start-ups with loans.
You may have your issues with UT and the controversy about how they handled recovery, but I can tell you for free that if you owed UT then, and you were not being evasive, you were forthright with them and showed proof of your predicaments, they listened well and were willing to give you a workable plan!
Later on, UT Bank who I owed less than 1,000 Cedis became my client who gave me projects in tens of thousands of dollars, and we continued to build an amazing relationship until the unexpected happened.
PK, I publicly and openly celebrate you today, I know we Ghanaians are not very good with celebrating our heroes, we wait till they die. But I will not wait to stand by your corpse and weep before I celebrate you and tell the world how amazing a human being you are. You are a legend to me and many young entrepreneurs, you are not religious but you had Faith and discipline, hardworking and full of love, and this virtue I admired about you. Generations will not forget your works as they are engraved in our hearts forever.
Happy 70th Birthday Captain! You do all! I love you to bits!
Source: BigGodwin Martey
