Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Ernest Addison, has clarified remarks attributed to him during the #OccupyBoG protest in October last year.
Dr. Addison stated that the term “hooligans” was not used by him but was instead attributed to him by a foreign media house that initially covered the story.
During his appearance before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Parliament on Monday, April 8, 2024, Dr. Ernest Addison clarified that the term “hooliganism” was an interpretation by the media house and not an accurate representation of his words.
“This is what I am coming to say that those who know me and know my character…you have not heard a single word of a recorded message with me describing parliamentarians in that manner. This was some foreign journalist’s description of the conversation we had and I disowned it,” he stated.
The #OccupyBoG demonstration, which took place in October 2023, involved a coalition of minority parliamentarians, NDC supporters, and various interest groups.
They were demanding the resignations of Dr. Addison and his deputies over allegations of economic mismanagement and unauthorized currency printing.
Dr. Addison had responded to the protest by referring to the demonstrators as “hooligans” and stating that neither he nor his deputies would resign.
However, in an interview with the international business website Central Banking, he later characterized the NDC-led protest as “completely unnecessary.”