Prominent Ghanaian journalist Bridget Otoo has urged the public to vote against the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
“Bawumia is needed here…. A vote against Bawumia is a civic duty,” she wrote on the X platform.
Bawumia is needed here….
— Bee (@Bridget_Otoo) July 11, 2024
A vote against Bawumia is a civic duty. https://t.co/ABJ3V7sVlq
Her plea follows a recent report highlighting discrepancies in remittance tracking by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Auditor General (AG), revealing that approximately $12 billion in remittances to Ghana from 2018 to 2022 are unaccounted for.
The report shows conflicting data between the World Bank and the Bank of Ghana.
While the World Bank tracked $21.1 billion in remittances to Ghana during this period, the Auditor General’s reports on the BoG’s consolidated statements of foreign exchange receipts and payments only accounted for $9.5 billion, leaving a gap of about $11.6 billion.
Furthermore, the Bank of Ghana’s 2023 annual financial statement disclosed that 11 licensed FinTech companies provided inward remittance services, with remittances totaling GH¢57 billion (US$5 billion) in 2023, up from GH¢18 billion (US$3 billion) in 2022.
However, the BoG failed to disclose the actual amounts received in foreign currencies for both years, violating Accounting Standard 21 (IAS 21).
Additionally, the BoG’s consolidated statements have consistently failed to capture remittances held by payment platforms other than the 23 dealer banks, allowing significant leakages and enabling some FinTech companies to illegally hold foreign exchange at the state’s expense due to inadequate regulatory frameworks.
According to the World Bank, $4 billion in remittances flowed into Ghana’s economy between 2016 and 2022, making forex inflows from remittances higher than those from cocoa, oil, and even gold when seasonalized to reflect the true amounts received.