A board member of the Atwima Kwanwoma Rural Bank, Mr Joe Appiah, has cautioned rural banks about moves by the commercial banks, especially the emerging ones, to poach their staff. He said the commercial banks had realised the professional capabilities of staff of the rural banks and were doing everything to poach some of them. Mr Appiah, who was speaking at the media launch of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Atwima Kwanwoma Rural Bank at Pakyi No Two in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region, said the situation was a threat to the operational capabilities of the rural banks and they better moved fast to curtail the threat. He appealed to the media to assist the rural banks to render quality services to the people. He urged the media to educate the people on the importance of the rural banks so that they would have confidence to do business with the banks. He said rural banking was one of the best things to happen to the country, adding, "This is exemplified by the various activities the banks are undertaking in the rural areas." The celebration of the event was on the theme: "Celebrating 25 years of excellence in rural banking-challenges in providing sustainable micro credit". Among activities lined up for the celebration were radio quiz competition for junior high school (JHS) pupils, inter-branch fun games, donation to the Otumfuo Education Fund, float through the principal streets of Kumasi and the anniversary annual general meeting. In his address at the launch, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the bank, Mr Godfried O. Odame, noted that 25 years of the bank had brought great improvement to their activities, which had had positive bearing on the communities in which they operated. He said the current total deposits of the bank was GH¢16,436,369.44 with a customer base of 108,713. Mr Asare said the bank had granted loans totaling GH¢13,596,981 to its customers. He indicated that the bank had developed important products including "susu" loans, group loans and institutional loans, which were targeted at micro and macro enterprises. The CEO said the bank was committed to community development and had therefore allocated a very good budget for that sector. He said the bank was constructing a model senior high school (SHS) at Pakyi, a project it had so far spent about GH¢90,000. Mr Asare further stated that the bank had instituted a scholarship scheme to assist brilliant but needy students in its catchment area. Source: Daily Graphic