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Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:18 am
Posts: 119
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Kenya outrage over debt collectors' shaming tactics In our series of letters from SLOTXO African journalists, Kenyan broadcaster Waihiga Mwaura looks at how debt collectors are causing outrage with
their latest intimidation tactics to recover loans given via digital-lending apps.
A pastor showed up in our newsroom in Kenya's capital, Nairobi with a unique complaint.
Over a week-long period, his phone had been inundated by calls from debt collectors who claimed that one of his congregants had nominated him
as the guarantor to a loan that she had taken.
At first the man of cloth thought it was a joke but after several annoying phone calls he moved from curiosity to bemusement and finally anger
at how invasive this form of debt shaming was.
The intensity of the phone conversations changed from day to day.
Initially the callers were polite and simply asked him to speak to his congregant to pay back the money she had borrowed the month before.
But soon thereafter the callers became more aggressive and even crass, calling him a fake pastor who refused to speak truth to his congregation
about the paying of debts and promising that they would make his phone "explode" with their incessant calls.
To add insult to injury they even abused his wife when she tried to intervene.
For several days the pastor could not use his phone because he refused to comply with the demands of the callers.
And after the story hit the airwaves and social media with the #Debtofshame hashtag many Kenyans started relaying their experiences when
confronted by debt collectors.
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