Johannesburg - Cameroonian business tycoon El Hadj Ahmadou Baba Danpullo believes that FNB misled the justice system in its decision to seize and liquidate all properties belonging to him in South Africa.
Baba Danpullo said the decision was not justifiable. His properties, valued at R4 billion, were seized and liquidated in 2020. The FNB decision came after Baba Danpullo contracted a loan of about R520 million from FNB to purchase 1 Thibault building in Cape Town in 2017, with a repayment of R10 million a month to be spread over 10 years, with interest.
He said the liquidation was not justified because he has been paying every month, as per the agreement between him and FNB.
“FNB decided to ruin me and obtained a judicial liquidation of all my real estate valued at R4 billion for the recovery of R520 million,” said Baba Danpullo.
He added: “South African justice, which I respect, has been misled by FNB and it is not too late to do the right thing, because nowhere in the world assets of more than R4 billion would be liquidated to recover the sum of R520 million. The liquidation was not justifiable because my companies were able to pay this sum of R520 million.”
Baba Danpullo said knowing the history of South Africa, he did not expect this kind of treatment from the banking institution. He said he fell in love with the country the first time he visited and was attracted by its beauty to invest and settle with his family.
“I have been in this country for more than 35 years because I firmly believe in Pan-Africanism. And I firmly believe that every African should feel at home in all countries, which is why I settled in South Africa, the land of the rainbow. The majority of my children and grandchildren were born in South Africa. They do not know Cameroon, which is the country of their father. They are all educated in South Africa and are well integrated into this country,” said Baba Danpullo.
Baba Danpullo said the FNB’s decision angered the people of Cameroon. He said this has also become a subject for discussion in parliament and government.
“There is general indignation in Cameroon and this affair gives a very bad image of the country of Nelson Mandela, which all Africans assisted in the fight against apartheid.
“The Cameroonian parliament was indignant at what happened to me during the session of November 23, 2022. The parliament asked the government to step up all measures for my diplomatic protection, a victim of the spoilation of assets in South Africa,” said Baba Danpullo.
Civil society activists in Cameroon also want to embark on a protest against South Africa, but Baba Danpullo said he opposed this move, saying he believes in the diplomatic resolution of this affair. He said the Cameroonian Embassy and President Paul Biya also approached President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene, and there are still no answers to this day.
“Still, nothing visible. We hope to have a favourable response from South African officials in the coming days,” he said.
In the meantime, the court in Cameroon has authorised Baba Danpullo to seize the bank accounts and assets of Chococam and MTN, which are subsidiaries of the Public Investment Corporate (PIC), which is itself a shareholder of FirstRand Bank which owns FNB. Baba Danpullo said he is willing to change his decision should FNB be open to negotiating with him.
“The proceedings are under way in Cameroon where we have been able to seize the interests of FNB. And in South Africa, we are acting with all our might to fight these unjust and totally disproportionate decisions.
“We have good hope that FNB will change its mind and limit its action to the amount of what we owe. Once the solution is found, we will also put an end to the proceedings initiated in Cameroon,” he said.
His properties are managed by Bestinver Company South Africa, Joburg Skyscraper, and Bestinver Prop 01 Property, which are all subsidiaries of Bestinver, the group Danpullo founded.
FNB said their debt collection process complies with the laws governing credit agreements. It said the bank offers clients a range of options for rehabilitating outstanding debt, based on the unique merits of each case.
“If despite our best efforts, a client fails to meet their credit agreement commitments, the Bank may resort to legal action as a last resort.
Our debt recovery processes are implemented consistently irrespective of a client's nationality,” said FNB, which added that they are not a party in the court case in Cameroon.