GCB Bank Limited has reacted to allegations that a client died in their Banking hall due to the negligence of some staff at the Boundary Road Branch.

There was a post by one Raymond Andre Paadoshkash alleging that the negligence of staff at the Boundary Road Branch led to the untimely death of their mother.

But responding to the allegations, GCB in a statement said, "The Branch of GCB Bank Ltd in question is the Boundary Road Branch and not Adabraka as erroneously published.

Approximately around 11.15 am on that fateful day, 26th March 2020, Madam Patience Esther Kuma, a customer of our Boundary Road Branch, entered the Branch accompanied by a lady, who was subsequently identified as her daughter.

The door was duly opened for the duo to enter the Banking Hall. Madam Patience was assisted by her daughter to sit in the Security woman`s chair inside the Banking hall.

Hardly had she sat in the chair than she slumped to her left in the chair and remained motionless.

The daughter started shaking her frantically in an attempt to resuscitate her. Two customers and two GCB staff, who were in the banking hall at the time and saw what was happening, were the first to rush to the aid of Madam Patience. The GCB staff were actively involved in fetching water in cups to use for the resuscitation whilst the deceased`s daughter went out to call the taxi driver, who brought them to the Branch, to take the distressed woman to the hospital.

Whilst a GCB staff asked that the deceased be taken to the Bob Freeman clinic, which was very close to the Boundary Road Branch, the deceased`s daughter insisted that the deceased be taken to the Ridge Hospital to see her regular Medical Doctor.

When the taxi arrived, three officers of the Bank and two customers carried Madam Patience into the waiting taxi to be conveyed to the Ridge Hospital. It is instructive to note that all these incidents happened within a spate of 5 minutes. The deceased and the daughter entered the banking hall at 11.15 am and by 11.20 am, she was carried into the taxi cab, headed for the Ridge Hospital.

The allegation that Madam Patience Kuma died in the banking hall could not have been accurate. It is trite knowledge that a declaration that one is brain stem dead could only be made by a certified Medical Practitioner. Pronouncing people dead is a medical function and cannot be determined in a banking hall by one who is not a Medical Practitioner, and more so not by one who was not present when the incident occurred. Available evidence has it that at the time the deceased was carried into the taxi, it was obvious she was alive but had difficulty in breathing.

From the facts as narrated, it is clear that the Branch staff acted very responsibly and did what they could have done under the circumstance as Bankers, and not medical practitioners, to assist in saving Madam Patience`s life. This show of concern by the staff of the Boundary Road Branch is consistent with the Bank`s renewed customer-centric paradigm.

The staff, at the peril of their own lives in these days of the rampaging highly-debilitating COVID-19, threw caution out of the window and carried the collapsed Madam Patience into the taxi cab when they were not wearing protective clothing. They did all these in an attempt to save the life of a customer so dear to them.

We believe the staff deserve praise, rather than the opprobrium and public ridicule to which the Facebook post has exposed them. May the soul of Madam Patience Esther Aku rest in perfect peace”.

The Bank said it can make CCTV Footage available for any further investigation into the matter.

Read GCB Bank's full post below.