Unscrupulous traders make a ‘ buck " on new kwacha note in Kasama

Unscrupulous traders make a ‘ buck “ on new kwacha note in Kasama

Kasama, June 03^rd, 2013,  ZANIS  —   There was panic among residents of in trying to meet the Bank of  Zambia deadline of changing old currency to new currency which fell on Sunday, June 30^th, 2013.

A random survey by ZANIS in the provincial headquarters over the weekend revealed that most of the residents where making desperate attempts of having their old Kwacha currency notes changed into new ones.

At Kasama Post Office  long queues where found reminiscent of  essential commodities of yesteryears as people waited for their turn to change their old Kwacha currency notes for new ones.

One female Zampost service customer assistant was almost beaten up by an  irate mob but was rescued by her workmates from the Main Post office.

However, unscrupulous traders used this as an opportunity to  make a quick buck as they started  accepting the old currency at a small fee .

And a resident of the second class trading area Cosmas Phiri  has expressed concern on why there was panic among many people despite being informed of  the money change before  the 30^th June, 2013 deadline.

Mr. Phiri added that despite 30^th June being the last day to transact with the old currency he has advised those still keeping the old currency to take the money to any commercial bank and any designated agencies.

In another development, K1 coins run short in Kasama forcing most traders not to accept big denominations of money like K20 and K50 notes because they were unable to give change to their clients.