The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has made it clear that the Majority caucus will not support the Minority if they decide to propose a motion to summon the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Ernest Addison, to appear before Parliament.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu explained that the Minority has already formed a negative opinion about the Governor as evidenced by their street protest; hence his presence would be unnecessary.
He suggested that instead of resorting to street demonstrations, opposition Members of Parliament could have chosen to invite the Governor for a parliamentary session to address concerns related to the new headquarters building and the reported GHS60.8 billion loss.
In an interview on TV3 on Monday, he said: “We are Members of Parliament, we could have invited the Governor to come and talk about the issues that are not clear to us. You go on a demonstration and organize a press conference against the man then you come back to Parliament to move the motion [to invite him], do you want me to support that?
“Now, you have made up your mind that whatever has been done by [the Governor] is inappropriate, you are not going to countenance it, so if he comes to explain the issues, are you going to take it or jettison it?” the Suame MP communicated.
On October 3, 2023, hundreds of Ghanaians led by the Minority in Parliament hit the streets to demand the removal of Dr Ernest Addison, who is accused of mismanaging the Central Bank, after issuing a 21-day ultimatum for his removal.
The demonstrators marched from Obra Spot at Kwame Nkrumah Circle to the Independence Square.
A delegation comprising some prominent NDC MPs such as Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, and NDC bigwigs including National Chairman Asiedu Nketiah, later moved to the Central Bank premises to present their petition.
Head of Security at the Central Bank, Wing Commander Kwame Asare Boateng (rtd), rather met the protestors and informed the delegation that Dr Addison had been occupied by a team from International Monetary Fund (IMF) hence his absence.
The Minority Leader, Dr Ato Forson, in turn, got upset and vented his spleen over what he described as gross disrespect by the BoG Governor to Parliament and Ghanaians.
Dr Ato Forson refused to present the petition to Wing Commander Kwame Asare Boateng (rtd), stressing that another protest would be held in the coming days.
According to the Minority Leader, the next demonstration will afford the BoG Governor the opportunity to show up and right his wrongs.
In response to the demonstration, Dr Ernest Addison noted that the Minority could have employed other alternatives to register their displeasure instead of hitting the streets like hooligans. He described the protest as “completely unnecessary” while refusing to resign.
His comment has sparked anger in the Minority, who have now threatened to treat his matters differently henceforth.
Also, a section of the general public has condemned the statement made by the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, noting that it smirks of arrogance.
The Minority in Parliament has urgently called on the government to grant necessary tax exemptions to facilitate the immediate clearance of antiretroviral drugs and essential medical equipment and supplies currently held up at the nation’s ports.
The Minority’s plea arises from reports of donated shipments of HIV antiretroviral drugs remaining stranded at the ports since July this year, causing unnecessary shortages for individuals living with HIV.
In a statement released on Friday, the Minority emphasized that those relying on the Abacavir Lamivudine treatment regimen were at an elevated risk of developing drug resistance, rendering the antiretroviral drug ineffective against the virus.
They pointed out that if this risk materialized, it would necessitate additional funding to address the HIV challenge in Ghana.
Consequently, the Minority demanded that “the Ministry of Finance as a matter of urgency issue the necessary tax exemption waivers to ensure that immediate clearance of the antiretroviral drugs and other medical equipment and consumables; implement an automated tax exemption waiver system for medical consumables and equipment to curtail needless delays in clearing such items at the port and institute reforms at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to ensure that systemic failures that lead to needless delays in the performance of its functions are eradicated.”
“The Health and well-being of Ghanaians are non-negotiable, and we urge the government to act swiftly and responsibly in addressing this crisis,” it added.
The Minority emphasized that this situation constituted a national emergency and, if left unchecked, could lead to an increase in Ghana’s HIV prevalence rate, heightened morbidity and mortality among individuals living with HIV, and an overall increase in the cost of HIV management in the country.
They concluded by stating that the health and well-being of Ghanaians were of utmost importance and urged the government to act swiftly and responsibly to address this crisis.“The Health and well-being of Ghanaians are non-negotiable, and we urge the government to act swiftly and responsibly in addressing this crisis,” it added.
The Minority Members in Parliament will henceforth treat the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addsion as a person of no influence.
Minority Chief Whip, Governs Kwame Agbodza, says this decision is in response to Dr Addison’s “hooligans” term against #OccupyBoG protestors demanding his removal from office.
“He described us as hooligans, so we shall show him who hooligans are. Any business concerning the Bank of Ghana will be treated differently. We will prove to him that what we did in terms of the peaceful demonstration is in line with our democratic dispensation,” he said.
“As for us in parliament, we take note of what he is saying…Parliament will resume shortly and we have a few ideas as to how we are going to deal with the Governor. But as far as we are concerned, he is a persona non-grata and we shall treat him like that,” he added.
Dr. Addison has been cited in an interview with centralbanking.com, where he reportedly asserted that he had no intentions of resigning despite the Minority’s call for his resignation.
Dr. Ernest Addison, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, was conspicuously absent when a delegation from the #OccupyBoG protest arrived at the institution’s premises to deliver a petition.
On October 3, 2023, a substantial group of Ghanaians, led by the Minority in Parliament, took to the streets to demand the removal of Dr. Ernest Addison, who stands accused of mismanaging the Central Bank.
The demonstrators initiated their march from Obra Spot at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, concluding at Independence Square.
Subsequently, a delegation composed of prominent NDC MPs, including Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, and notable NDC figures such as National Chairman Asiedu Nketiah, proceeded to the Central Bank’s premises to submit their petition.
However, upon arrival, they were met by Wing Commander Kwame Asare Boateng (retired), the Head of Security at the Central Bank, who relayed the information that Dr. Addison was engaged with a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and could not be present.
Dr. Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, expressed his dissatisfaction, deeming it a blatant disregard by the BoG Governor towards Parliament and the people of Ghana. In response, he declined to present the petition to Wing Commander Kwame Asare Boateng (retired) and declared that another protest would be organized in the days to come.
In reaction to this development, Dr. Addison asserted that “The Minority in parliament have many channels to channel their grievances in civilised societies, not through demonstrations in the streets as hooligans.”
The Minority Chief Whip says his side will adopt a stern stance toward the Governor whose remarks he deemed “unfortunate” and “loose.”
According to him, he is not to be blamed since he is under protection from his accomplices in government.
He added that “he [Dr Addison] should know that even under the best protection under the current government, a day will come that he will face proper justice of the people of this country.
“So he can be laughing at us [Minority] today, but I don’t want anybody to be discouraged. The use of peaceful protest must still be part of our political journey so that we don’t take up alternative routes that may jeopardise our democracy.”
The Deputy National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Godwin Ako Gunn, has strongly criticized the Central Bank’s governor, Dr. Ernest Addison, characterizing him as an arrogant and discourteous public official.
According to Ako Gunn, he believes that if he were not representing the NDC, he would have used the term “mentally unstable” to describe Addison.
“It is unfortunate that the governor has chosen to disrespect Ghanaians. He opened his mouth and made reckless and irresponsible remarks about people whose taxes pay him. Hooligans are lawless people, and describing taxpayers who pay his monthly salary demonstrates how disrespectful he is,” Mr Ako Gunn stated
The only appropriate observation in this situation is that he lacks self-respect, and as a result, he lacks respect for the people of Ghana. His remarks were deeply troubling. He is employed in an institution plagued by theft, corruption, and mismanagement. If this were not the case, there would be no justification for spending GHC 135 million on car repairs.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana has informed Central Banking that he rejects the call from the country’s primary opposition party for his resignation. On October 3, the Minority group marched to the central bank’s headquarters, demanding the resignations of Dr. Addisson and his deputy governors, citing the bank’s reported GHC 60 billion loss for the 2022 fiscal year.
Ernest Addison, on the other hand, claims that “the demonstration was completely unnecessary” and that neither he nor his deputies intend to resign.”
Reacting to the comments, Ako Gun said ”I would have declared him mentally unstable if I weren’t a communicator for the NDC. Listen to what I’m saying; I didn’t insult him. I only stated that I would have; I did not describe him as such.”
He made the remarks during an interview on Rainbow Radio 87.5 FM’s Nyankonton Mu Nsem.
Security analyst Dr. Ishmael Norman has taken a stance opposing Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson. Dr. Forson’s expressed disagreement with the police’s decision to prevent their #OccupyBoG protest from entering the Bank of Ghana headquarters.
He expected the police to permit the caucus’s leadership and MPs to access the central bank for the purpose of presenting a petition to the governor. However, Dr. Norman disagrees with Dr. Forson’s viewpoint.
Ghana Police Service at a press briefing on Monday announced that it would allow the OccupyBoG protesters to march as far as the National Lottery Authority and make a U-turn towards the Independence Square where they are to terminate their procession.
The Service justified this decision by insisting that the area beyond the National Lottery Authority, particularly the Bank of Ghana premises, is a security zone and so allowing such a large procession into the vicinity could potentially pose a risk to national security.
But according to security analyst, the minority is asking for too much and urged them to accept the police’s boundaries.
“I think going to the Central Bank is totally a no-no. Can you do this in America? Fort Knox? You can go to Fort Knox? You can go to New York Treasury and then demonstrate there? I mean, please let’s be real. You have the right to express your will as a citizen, you have the right to criticize the government, you have the right to demonstrate.
“But there are certain specific areas that you should not be permitted to go at all and one of them is the central bank. So for me, I support the demonstration as a right of every citizen, part of their inalienable rights. However, the central bank is out of place. I am surprised that I am speaking for the Ghana Police because normally I don’t do this, but I think they’re demanding a bit too much and I think that should not be allowed,” he said.
However, private legal practitioner Samson Lardy Anyenini stated that the police’s designation of a location as a security zone cannot be swallowed hook, line, and sinker.
According to him, just because an area is designated a security zone does not preclude a modest procession bringing a petition from passing through.
“We cannot be agreeing with the police and saying once they say a place is a security zone it means a security zone is out of access. I think that’s completely wrong. Nowhere in the world is it established that a place that is designated as a security zone means you cannot take a demonstration there.
“In this case, they are not saying from what we have heard, that they are taking the demonstration there. They’re saying give some of the leaders the opportunity to go there, what’s wrong with that? What’s the biggest security zone than the white house?
“So please let’s not take the police’s word and simply say once they say it’s a security zone it means a security zone means that you cannot access the place,” he said.
The NDC and its supporters are planning a protest to demand the immediate resignation of the Bank of Ghana’s governors for what they describe as gross mismanagement of Ghana’s fiscal space, which has significantly contributed to the Bank of Ghana’s bankruptcy and the country’s worsening economic conditions.
If the October 3 protest fails to yield the desired results, the Minority will take further steps to remove the central bank managers, according to Dr. Forson.
“This is the first of a series of actions that we are going to take. We may repeat the demonstration. We may begin processes in parliament that will remove the Governor and the deputies. So, let’s start from tomorrow [Tuesday] and let’s see what happens,” he said.
The Ghana Police Service has granted permission for the Minority Caucus in Parliament to carry out their planned demonstration against the Governor of the Bank of Ghana and his deputies on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.
The police have also provided details regarding the designated routes for the protesters.
ACP Grace Ansah-Akrofi, the Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, addressed the media on October 2, ahead of the scheduled protest.
She outlined the specified routes for the demonstrators, which include gathering at the Obra Spot at Kwame Nkrumah Circle and proceeding through Adabraka, Ridge Roundabout, National Theatre Traffic Light, High Court Complex Traffic Light, Attah Mills Highway, making a U-Turn at the National Lottery Authority, and concluding the march at Independence Square.
The police service assured the public of their commitment to deploying an adequate number of officers to ensure peace and security throughout the demonstration.Certain roads will be temporarily blocked during the protest.
The road leading from Independence Square in front of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) to the Old Parliament Traffic Light will be closed to vehicular traffic for the duration of the exercise.
Alternative routes will be provided, diverting traffic through the Starlet Traffic Light, Ministries Traffic Light, in front of the Office of the Department of Urban Roads, the National Lottery Authority, linking up with the AMA office Road to EOCO, and eventually returning to the John Evans Atta Mills Highway at the Old Parliament Traffic Light intersection.
Additionally, the Ghana Police Service urged journalists covering the protest to carry identification to facilitate their movements.The demonstration had been postponed several times due to disagreements between the police and the Minority over the proposed routes.
The Minority is organizing the protest to demand the resignation of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana and his deputies in response to the Bank’s reported GH¢60.81 billion loss in the 2022 fiscal year and the allocation of over $250 million for the construction of a new headquarters for the central bank.
The Ghana Police Service stands firm in its decision not to permit the Minority caucus in parliament to conclude their protest at the Bank of Ghana Headquarters building in Accra.
In a press briefing held on Monday, October 2, the Service reaffirmed that the rationale behind preventing the protesters from concluding their demonstration at the specified site is due to its classification as a security zone.
ASP Grace Ansah-Akrofi, the Director of Public Affairs for the Ghana Police Service, pointed out that the Public Order Act stipulates this provision: “when the Police has been served with the notice of protest, the Service is to conduct a security assessment on the route and location proposed or when the police have concerns that following this route can endanger public safety, order and provision of essential services, the police is able to request of the organisers to make changes to their proposed route.”
She went on to say that if there is a disagreement between both parties – organizers and police – the police can go to court, as can the organizers.
It has so challenged the demonstration organizers to appear in court for a hearing on the topic if they do not adhere to the terms of the police after filing an injunction.
“Per the security assessment conducted by the Police Service, the Bank of Ghana is a security zone and we have advised the organisers accordingly, if they have dissatisfaction with the police proposal to them, they are allowed to go court so that the court determines the matter,” said the police.
The police stated at the press briefing that the Minority had finally achieved an agreement with them on the route for the protest, despite the minority’s claims to the contrary.
“Per our agreement with the Minority, the demonstrators will converge at Obra Spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and proceed Adabraka to Ridge Roundabout, National Theatre Traffic Light, High Court Traffic Light to Atta Mills Highway and make a u-turn at the National Lottery and terminate at the Independence Square,” ASP Ansah-Akrofi indicated.
The Minority caucus in parliament has organized a protest under the banner #OccupyBoG, demanding the resignation of Dr. Ernest Addison, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, along with his two deputies. They argue that mismanagement within the central bank has led to substantial losses and negatively impacted the Ghanaian economy.
Initially, the Minority group informed the police about their planned protest, intending to commence it from the front of Parliament. They proposed the following route: Osu Cemetery Traffic Light – Ministry of Finance – High Court Complex – Kinbu – Makola – Rawlings Park to Opera Square, ultimately ending at the Bank of Ghana for the presentation of their petition.
However, the police expressed concerns regarding the chosen routes, citing potential risks to public order and safety. They also emphasized the importance of preventing traffic disruptions.
In response, the police suggested an alternative route for the Minority, starting at Obra Spot – Circle – Adabraka road building to the City Centre – Cedi House to Independence Square.
Despite the police’s proposal, the Minority caucus remained steadfast in their decision to follow their initially proposed route, asserting that it was shorter than the one suggested by the police.
Subsequently, the police filed for an injunction against the Minority’s proposed protest routes.
Numerous Members of Parliament (MPs) affiliated with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region are expressing growing alarm about the rapid deterioration of the coastline in the region.
They contend that the government seems to be indifferent to the extensive damage taking place along the coast.
Since the beginning of the year, powerful ocean currents have washed away both businesses and residential properties, resulting in thousands of residents in the southern Volta Region being displaced.
A coalition of MPs, led by Emmanuel Bedzrah, the leader of the Volta NDC MPs, and Kwame Governs Agbodza, the Minority Chief Whip, conducted visits to communities affected in the Anlo, Keta, and Ketu South Municipalities. During these visits, they emphasized the pressing need for action to address the crisis.
In an interview with Citi News, Governs Kwame Agbodza, an MP representing the Adaklu constituency, declared that the NDC’s willingness to support the government depends on its commitment to including the Keta Sea Defense Project in the 2024 budget.
“I am told that the World Bank and the IMF have some arrangements with Benin and Togo for the West African Coastline Management Area Resilient Fund. Why is our country not participating in that exercise, why are we not applying for it so we can save the coastline of our shores?” she asked.
The Accra Regional Police Command has given its approval to provide security for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and several Civil Society Organizations as they plan to carry out a demonstration against the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
In an official statement released by the police, the provision of security on Tuesday, October 3, is in accordance with the provisions of the Public Order Act 1994 (ACT 491).
Additionally, the Command has issued a reminder to the demonstrators to strictly adhere to the planned route, which was outlined in their letter dated September 11. The designated route is as follows: starting from Obra Spot, proceeding through Adabraka, Ridge Roundabout, National Theatre Traffic Light, High Court Complex Traffic Light, Atta Mills Highway, and concluding with a U-Turn to Independence Square.
The police also warned that leaders of the protest should ensure that there is no breach of peace adding that “demonstrators conduct themselves in a peaceful manner before, during and after.”
The Command has provided assurance to the protest organizers of its ongoing cooperation and dedication to maintaining law and order during the planned public demonstration, in accordance with the responsibilities of the Ghana Police Service.
This agreement follows a series of discussions and engagements between the Ghana Police Service and the protest organizers.
Originally scheduled for September 5, the initial protest aimed to address various economic inconsistencies under the current administration of the Bank of Ghana.
During a meeting held with the leadership of the Accra Police on August 23, the protest organizers revealed the proposed routes for their event.
These routes included starting near Parliament House, proceeding through Osu Cemetery traffic light, High Court Complex, Ministry of Finance, Kinbu, Makola – Rawlings Park, Opera Square, and concluding at the premises of the Bank of Ghana Head Office.
The Police expressed their readiness to provide security for the demonstrators on the initially scheduled protest day. However, after conducting a comprehensive assessment of public order and security concerns, the protest leaders were kindly urged to reconsider the proposed routes.
In light of these considerations, the protest has been postponed and rescheduled for Tuesday, October 3rd.
The Minority Caucus of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament has made a call on Thursday for the government to undertake a substantial overhaul of the reportedly struggling National Investment Bank (NIB) in order to prevent the possible dissolution of the bank.
During a press conference held at Parliament House, Mr. Isaac Adongo, who serves as the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, challenged the government’s contemplation of liquidating NIB.
He suggested that there might be undisclosed reasons driving the government’s decision.
Mr. Adongo pointed out that there is a viable alternative to address the bank’s challenges, as proposed by the NDC and the Minority.
They advocate for the government to restructure NIB’s financial position by converting all of NIB’s debts owed to the government into equity.
“The government should just restructure the balance sheet of NIB to swap all the NIB debts that it owes the government and give the government equity but the government says it doesn’t have money to capitalise the bank but it has given 500 million bonds to NIB and it has given 800 million debt to NIB the two will give you 1.2 billion…commit to say that is your commitment to recapitalisation so we issue shares for you,” Mr Adongo alleged.
The Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, told the press that the Caucus would only support the ratification of the $250 million World Bank facility for the financial stability fund if ailing state banks were given priority.
Deputy Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Isaac Adongo, has raised concerns that the National Investment Bank (NIB) has not received the level of attention it requires, resulting in its ongoing financial crisis.
During an appearance on the Top Story program on Joy FM, the Member of Parliament for Bolga Central disclosed that the Managing Director of the bank, Samuel Sarpong, has been remotely managing the troubled institution for nearly a year, all the way from Canada.
Mr Adongo attributed this situation to a lack of effective corporate governance, which he believes has contributed to the bank’s current predicament.
“We haven’t given NIB the kind of attention that it deserves given that it has been in crisis… the Managing Director sat in Canada and zoom-managed NIB for almost a year. How can we be serious with that?
“A bank that requires arm holding, proper nurturing, the Managing Director sat in Canada for one year and what he was doing was zoom managing that bank. Even very good performing banks cannot be managed by zoom for one year so clearly there are issues,” he said on JoyFM’s Top Story.
“I want to tell you that the bank itself was not established by the Companies Act, it was established by a National Investment Bank Act 612, and that Act is very clear under Section 22 under liquidation proceedings that nobody can liquidate or take any action that will ultimately lead to the demise of NIB unless it comes back to parliament for parliament to pass a law giving direction as to how that process should be pursued.
“So, there’s clearly a legal mandate and that legal mandate rests with the people who set up NIB and it is the parliament of Ghana. So, we don’t expect anything other than a poor regulation action by the Central Bank under Act 930 either to bring it under administration, to revoke the license or to place it under receivership as provided because they have a license of the bank of Ghana.
“But it’s quite clear that’s not the action the Bank of Ghana wants to take, it is not the action the government is interested in, the only action left now is to come under Act 612 and particularly under Section 22 of the Act,” he explained.
Previously, the Member of Parliament (MP) had asserted that the merger proposal served as a camouflage for the eventual sale of both banks, post-merger, to individuals with close ties to the government.
This, according to him, was perceived as a strategy employed in the context of state capture efforts.
“It is clear that this is not about the interest of NIB. This is the last step towards passing through the back door to acquire NIB and ABD for themselves in a state capture,” he said.
Previously, the Member of Parliament (MP) had asserted that the merger proposal served as a camouflage for the eventual sale of both banks, post-merger, to individuals with close ties to the government. This, according to him, was perceived as a strategy employed in the context of state capture efforts.
“I don’t think merging NIB and ADB is solving any problem, it is not a solution at all,” he told Evans Mensah.
He pointed out that the National Investment Bank (NIB) has not only been grappling with fiscal challenges but has also faced corporate governance issues, with the roots of the current situation dating back to 2016.
Additionally, he mentioned that the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) is experiencing similar challenges, as indicated in a 2022 report, and lacks the capacity to absorb the National Investment Bank (NIB). Furthermore, he noted that even if the government were to provide financial support to ADB, it might not be sufficient to cover NIB’s outstanding debts.
He suggested that both banks be recapitalised, explaining that “you don’t bring a weak institution to buy a bad institution. You have what we call a good bank buying a bad bank, there is a theory there but the two of them are not good for anything.”
The Minority in Parliament, has strongly opposed the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) proposal to transfer control of the National Investment Bank (NIB) to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).
According to the NDC MPs, this move raises concerns of a conflict of interest due to the fact that the Bank of Ghana holds a majority stake of over 60% in ADB.
During a press conference held in Parliament, Isaac Adongo, the Ranking member for the Finance Committee, accused the Akufo-Addo administration of attempting to surreptitiously hand over NIB to political allies.
The Bolgatanga Central MP also presented alternative solutions to the government, which he believes could help NIB overcome its challenges without resorting to a sale.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, it is instructive to note that every viable and constructive alternative proposals by well- meaning Ghanaians aimed at resolving the problems of NIB to retain and revive a largely systemic Bank were bluntly ignored.
“NIB’s biggest problem is that it is suffering from capitalization deficit of GHC2.4 billion. However, a casual review of NIB’s balance sheet shows that a restructuring of the balance sheet can generate in excess of GHC2.75 billion to wipe of the GHC2.4 billion and leave a free shareholders fund and equity of about GHS350 million towards recapitalization and a total cash injection of GH2.8b. It is therefore puzzling that anybody sitting on this gold mine will attempt to give it out to somebody for peanut.
“I wish to state here, that some of the proposals that were ignored are still very important today to remedy the situation.
Among these include, but are not limited to, the following:
“Sale of NIB’s 24% shares in Nestle Ghana acquired at Ghc50 million a long time ago, that were given a conservative value of Ghc500million in 2018. This singular proposal would have generated a risk-free cash of Ghc500million to NIB and provided a realized capital gain of Ghc450 million for ecapitalisation. Strangely, this was either ignored or lost on Hon. Ken Ofori Atta, who rather opted to take the shares in Nestle and swap it with a Ghc500 million government bond plus a further Ghc800million government debt as deposit for shares. As it turned out, those bonds have since been impaired through the poor conduct of the Finance Minister in the infamous and unending DDEP consistent with IFRS 9.”
The Minority in Parliament has opposed the government’s proposal to either dissolve the National Investment Bank (NIB) or amalgamate it with the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).
In recent years, the government has been actively pursuing the merger of ADB and NIB to establish the National Development Bank, citing ongoing challenges faced by both institutions.
During a press briefing in Parliament, Isaac Adongo, the Minority Spokesperson on Finance, asserted that this initiative is, in fact, a diversionary tactic aimed at ultimately selling off the merged banks to individuals with close government ties, as part of what he characterizes as efforts to exert undue influence over state assets.
“It is clear that this is not about the interest of NIB. This is the last step towards passing through the back door to acquire NIB and ABD for themselves in a state capture,” he said on Thursday, September 28.
The Minority has called on the government to settle the outstanding debt owed to the bank. Additionally, they have recommended a set of measures aimed at ensuring the bank’s financial viability.
“Government should just restructure the balance sheet of NIB to swap all the NIB debt that it owes to government and give government equity. Government says it doesn’t have money to capitalize the bank, but it has given 500 million debt to NIB, it has given 800 million debt… The two will give you 1.3 billion. It is your money. You owe the bank. The money is already sitting there. Commit to saying that this is my contributing towards capitalisation so that we issue shares to you and move the money to equity,” he added.
Isaac Adongo emphasized that the potential collapse of NIB and its subsequent acquisition by ADB would result in the loss of approximately 800 jobs.
He also pointed out that contractors who were engaged by NIB for government projects are still awaiting payment from the Finance Ministry.
“As a result of that, NIB has incurred 1 billion on its load books, resulting from Ken Ofori-Atta’s refusal to pay, now you say NIB is week,” he said.
The Minority caucus in Parliament has strongly condemned the harsh treatment inflicted upon the #OccupyJulorbiHouse protesters by the police on Thursday, September 21.
In an official statement released on Friday, September 22, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, characterized the police actions as “cruel and savage.”
He further criticized the police for resorting to a “16th-century style crackdown and terror” against the demonstrators, asserting that such tactics tarnish the reputation of the Ghana Police Service.
The Minority also rebuked the Ghana Police Service for attempting to justify the arrests, emphasizing that the Service should not overstep its authority by encroaching upon the jurisdiction of the courts.
“The Minority is appalled that the Ghana Police Service is increasingly seen to be lending itself to a regime of terror and tyranny that is being meted out to critics of this intolerant Akufo-Addo/Bawumia New Patriotic Party government.
“How can the Ghana Police justify its actions today by stating that they were as a result of “the flagrant disregard of the court process served on the organisers” of the demonstration? Since when has the Ghana Police Service been clothed with the authority to punish people who disregard a lawful court order, assuming there was any such order? The courts are clothed with powers to deal with those who disobey its lawful orders. The Ghana Police Service therefore cannot usurp the role of the courts,” the Minority pointed out in its statement.
“We hold the view that the right to freely protest and civil liberties are under a great threat from the Ghana Police Service which has decided to usurp the authority of the courts and act as law unto itself. The Minority further takes great exception to the new-found penchant of the Police to designate public places such as the premises of the Jubilee House and other state institutions as so-called “security zone”, when these very institutions hosted similar protests in times past. This is an obvious attempt by the Police to shield public officials from accountability and the same shall be fiercely resisted.
“The Minority hereby demands the immediate and unconditional release of all protesters who have been arrested. As efforts are underway to free all those who have been unlawfully detained by the Police, we wish to assure the leaders of the protest, all protesters and their families that the Minority firmly stands with them. Our national anthem enjoins us to resist oppressors rule and that we will do!”
Read the below statement by the Minority Caucus in Parliament
PRESS RELEASE MINORITY IN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS POLICE BRUTALITIES AND ARREST OF PEACEFUL PROTESTORS, DEMANDS THEIR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. The Minority in Parliament is outraged at and disappointed in the Ghana Police Service for unleashing a terror squad of police officers who on Thursday shamefully brutalised and arrested peaceful protesters in Accra.
It is shocking and unacceptable that in 2023 officers of the Ghana Police Service would resort to backward and archaic policing methods to counter peaceful protesters who were only manifesting their lawful and constitutionally-guaranteed right.
We condemn in no uncertain terms the police officers’ ruthless and barbaric crackdown on the unarmed peaceful protesters. For a police service that is badly and widely criticised for its partisan policing methods in recent years, and for which a parliamentary probe is currently ongoing, the 16th century style crackdown and terror unleashed by them on the peaceful protesters in Accra yesterday further dims the reputation of the Ghana Police Service.
Even more shocking is the fact that the heinous and high-handedness of the police is inconsistent with its motto of Service with Integrity.
Reports say as many as 49 unarmed civilians have been arrested and detained in various police cells in Accra while several others were brutalised and manhandled by officers of the Ghana Police Service. Even journalists who were carrying out their lawful duties were reportedly beaten and arrested by the police. This is unacceptable and undemocratic.
Never has there been a time in our recent democratic experience that a government would be this intolerant of divergent views and the right to publicly protest, and the sad events of Thursday represent a new low on this slippery path. It cannot be accepted that when citizens decide to express their right to protest, the police frustrates and scuttles the processes leading to the peaceful protest or where the protesters remain resolute by holding the protest, the police brutally cracks down on them.
The Minority is appalled that the Ghana Police Service is increasingly seen to be lending itself to a regime of terror and tyranny that is being meted out to critics of this intolerant Akufo-Addo/Bawumia New Patriotic Party government. How can the Ghana Police justify its actions today by stating that they were as a result of “the flagrant disregard of the court process served on the organisers” of the demonstration? Since when has the Ghana Police Service been clothed with the authority to punish people who disregard a lawful court order, assuming there was any such order? The courts are clothed with powers to deal with those who disobey its lawful orders. The Ghana Police Service therefore cannot usurp the role of the courts.
We hold the view that the right to freely protest and civil liberties are under a great threat from the Ghana Police Service which has decided to usurp the authority of the courts and act as law unto itself. The Minority further takes great exception to the new-found penchant of the Police to designate public places such as the premises of the Jubilee House and other state institutions as so-called “security zone”, when these very institutions hosted similar protests in times past. This is an obvious attempt by the Police to shield public officials from accountability and same shall be fiercely resisted.
The Minority hereby demands the immediate and unconditional release of all protesters who have been arrested. As efforts are underway to free all those who have been unlawfully detained by the Police, we wish to assure the leaders of the protest, all protesters and their families that the Minority firmly stands with them. Our national anthem enjoins us to resist oppressors rule and that we will do!
Finally, we wish to remind the police and the Akufo-Addo/ Bawumia government that no amount of intimidation can stop the people of Ghana from holding the feet of appointees and duty bearers to the fire of accountability, and they must brace themselves for more civic action. We shall remain citizens and not spectators! END
The Minority in Parliament has strongly rebuked the Ghana Police Service for their handling of the arrest and the use of excessive force against the #OccupyJulorbiHouse protesters on Thursday, September 21.
The members of the NDC (National Democratic Congress) in Parliament maintain that the police’s actions are reprehensible and disgraceful, and should not be tolerated.
In a press release issued on Friday, September 22, and signed by their leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the caucus criticized the police for employing outdated and regressive policing tactics.
“The Minority in Parliament is outraged at and disappointed in the Ghana Police Service for unleashing a terror squad of police officers who on Thursday shamefully brutalised and arrested peaceful demonstrators in Accra.”
“It is shocking and unacceptable that in 2023 officers of the Ghana Police Service would resort to backward and archaic policing methods to counter peaceful protestors who were only manifesting their lawful and constitutionally guaranteed right,” excerpts of the release said.
This is how Bridget Otoo was badly attacked and pushed inside during the #OccupyJulorbiHouse protest by the Police. #INDNews#INDViral Kudus | Resign | Kidi | Gabby | Yvonne Nelson | Bawumia | Christian Council | Ghana Police pic.twitter.com/2Y4HrguqRz
Consequently, they have unequivocally condemned the police’s actions and called upon them to embrace modern policing techniques.
In their view, this incident will tarnish the reputation of the police force.
“We condemn in no uncertain terms the police officers’ ruthless and barbaric crackdown on the unarmed peaceful protestors. For a service that has been badly and widely criticised for its partisan policing methods in recent years and for which a parliamentary probe is currently ongoing, the 16th-century style of crackdown and terror unleashed by them on the peaceful protesters in Accra yesterday further dims the reputation of the Ghana Police Service.”
“Even more shocking is the fact the heinous and highhandedness of the police is inconsistent with its motto of service with integrity.”
Minority Chief Whip, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has vehemently criticized the Electoral Commission (EC) and its Chair, Mrs. Jean Adukwei Mensa.
In a blistering response to the recent press conference held by the EC Chair, Agbodza rejected the Commission’s attempt to use Parliament as justification for what he views as an unfair strategy to suppress the number of first-time voters.
“One of the false, weak, and wishy-washy excuses the EC Chair, Madam Jean Adukwei Mensa, sought to canvass at her press conference to justify the EC’s dogged determination to suppress first-time voters is her claim that the Commission is acting within the constraints of its work-plan and budget as approved by Parliament,” Agbodza stated.
“Parliament, in considering the Electoral Commission’s budgetary estimates for 2023, its Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) from 2023-2026, and the Electoral Commission’s actual appropriation for 2023, did not take a pesewa out of the Commission’s requests,” he emphasised.
Mrs. Jean Mensa, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), has pointed out that Parliament shares some of the responsibility for the Commission’s difficulties in decentralizing its voter registration process.
She attributed this challenge to the House’s failure to pass the new Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) that was submitted for approval.
In addressing the criticisms and concerns surrounding the ongoing limited voter registration exercise, Mrs. Jean Mensa noted that the Commission finds itself in a challenging situation.
The budget figures presented by Agbodza paint a stark picture. “Indeed, both Appendix 4A (MDA Expenditure Allocation) of the 2023 Budget Statement and the Third Schedule of the Appropriations Act 2022 (Act 1090), as well as the EC’s own Programme-Based Budget Estimates contained in its MTEF, put the EC’s total budget for 2023 at GH₵386,047,606. Out of this figure, the EC budgeted a rounded figure of GH₵56,059,846 for registration of voters in 2023.”
Mr Agbodza stressed that Parliament approved a generous budget for the Electoral Commission, stating, “It is important to state that the Electoral Commission’s budgetary allocation for 2023 is far more than all the budgetary allocations of the Ministry of Information and its agencies, the National Development Planning Commission, the National Media Commission, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, and the Right to Information Commission, put together.”
“There can be no justification on the part of an Electoral Commission that is hell-bent on disenfranchising voters by placing strictures and fetters on the inalienable rights of Ghanaians to register to vote in public elections and referenda, instead of implementing programmes to expand that right as it is enjoined by law to do”, the Adaklu MP stated.
Mr Agbodza had a stern warning to the EC and its Commissioners; “Jean Mensa will not be allowed to use Parliament as a convenient excuse for her lawless conduct, and as representatives of the people, we will soon be demanding accountability from her and the other Commissioners.”
The voter registration exercise currently taking place at the EC’s district offices nationwide has faced significant criticism from political parties and civil society organizations. They argue that the EC has not provided sufficient justification for confining the exercise to its district offices.
The Minority in Parliament is urgently demanding a cessation to the government’s intentions of using proceeds from the TEN oil field as collateral for a $431 million loan facility from LITASCO.
The Minority argues that this arrangement is unlawful and expresses apprehension that, under the loan agreement, the TEN oil field would be obligated to produce a minimum of 3.8 million barrels of crude oil annually for LITASCO.
Addressing reporters on Wednesday, September 20, John Jinapor, the Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee, emphasized that despite Parliament’s refusal of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation’s (GNPC) request to secure the loan until the agreement’s terms and conditions were presented, the presidency has instructed GNPC to seek board approval for the loan without obtaining parliamentary consent.
“To our utmost shock, the minority side has become aware that the presidency is using coercive force to compel the GNPC to proceed and execute this loan agreement without parliamentary approval,” Jinapor said, adding “This is unconstitutional, this is unlawful and this is a blatant disregard to the directive and resolution of Parliament.”
The GNPC board members who opposed the loan agreement were likewise praised by the minority. Jinapor asserts that the GNPC board’s audacious action ought to be supported.
He admonished the GNPC not to proceed with the loan agreement without parliamentary approval since doing so would be unconstitutional.
Minority leader in Parliament, Dr Ato Forson has reminded the Bank of Governor, Dr Ernest Addison and Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta that their day of accountability is nigh.
He made this known in a rebuttal statement in connection with Mr Ofori-Atta’s “Stand with Bank of Ghana Governor” agenda. In a write up, the Finance Minister argued that Dr Ernest Addison is a competent professional who should not lose his job for protecting the economy.
“Governor Addison, just like me, has faced major economic hurdles since 2017, inheriting a derailed International Monetary Fund programme and a highly impaired and ethically strained financial industry from our predecessors, having to navigate the serious revenue shocks on the back of COVID-19 and distortions to our supply chain induced by both Covid-19 and international geopolitics,” he wrote.
The Finance Minister also defended the construction of a new headquarters for the Central Bank, arguing that it is “befitting”.
In response, Dr Ato Forson noted that the need to justify the “gross incompetence and misgovernance of the leadership of the Bank of Ghana,” by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta “ended up worsening the case of the central bank and deepening its credibility crisis.”
He noted that it is legitimate for citizens to seek clarifications regarding value for money considerations in executing such a project and whether current circumstances justify a project of that nature as the central bank has made losses in three of the past six years; and is projected to declare a loss again in 2023 and possibly in 2024.
“The Minister should rather welcome the call for an independent audit into the project and to ensure value for money at the end of the day,” he added.
Dr Ato Forson concluded by reminding Governor Addison and Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta that “the day of reckoning is very near and they will be held accountable for their collective mess.”
On August 9, 2023, the Minority issued a 21-day ultimatum for the resignation of the governor of the Bank of Ghana and his deputies. The ultimatum has elapsed, however, the Minority has threatened to protest to demand their removal.
SHOULD CITIZENS STAND WITH THE BANK OF GHANA GOVERNOR WHO HAS AIDED THE GOVERNMENT’S ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT TEAM TO DESTROY LIVELIHOODS? THE POSITION OF THE MINORITY IN PARLIAMENT
In a recent statement intended to justify the gross incompetence and misgovernance of the leadership of the Bank of Ghana, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta sought to “speak for” the Bank of Ghana but ended up worsening the case of the central bank and deepening its credibility crisis.
Ordinarily, the beguiled statement by the Minister should be disregarded entirely and treated with the contempt it deserves. However, there is the need to correct some of the key misconceptions peddled and to fact-check the assertions made by the Minister in the statement.
From the second paragraph, the Minister erroneously used nominal figures to argue that the Bank of Ghana had grown its assets phenomenally between 2016 and 2022. If the Minister describes a 2.4-fold increase from GHS53 billion in 2016 to GHS125.97 billion in 2022 as phenomenal, how would he describe the increase in Bank of Ghana’s assets by 8.2-fold during the period of the NDC government (2009-2016) when the same assets grew from GHS6.45 billion as at end-2008 to GHS53 billion as at end-2016?
What is even worse is that the increase in assets between 2016 and 2022 were largely driven by the illegal monetary financing of government; in other words, illegal lending to government. This excessive printing and lending of money to government is the cause of the economic woes the country is currently facing (high inflation, volatility in the exchange rate, and high interest rates) as confirmed by the IMF and the World Bank.
In the third paragraph, the Minister again used nominal GDP figures to argue that thesize of GDP had more than doubled in value from GHS219.6 billion in 2016 to GHS610.2 billion in 2022, without adjusting for the impact of inflation within the same period. The Minister must realize that nominal values will always rise, hence the right thing to do is to express these in real terms.
On the watch of this Minister, real GDP growth slowed between 2018 and 2020 and only recovered slightly in 2021 due mainly to revenues from the three oil fields they inherited as well as the massive covid-19 revenue inflows, and not due to any special expertise of the Minister. Again, the Minister’s management of the economy worsened in 2022 and it is projected to further deteriorate at the end of 2023 with growth projection of 1.5%.
In the same paragraph, the Minister also touted doubling revenues since 2016, with total revenues increasing from GHS32 billion in 2016 to GHS96.7 billion by 2022. Again, for the comparison to be meaningful, these nominal figures must be expressed in real terms. At best, these figures should be expressed as a ratio of GDP, or in other words movement of the revenue-to-GDP ratio. Indeed, data from the Ministry of Finance shows that revenue- to-GDP on the watch of this Minister has not performed well as he claims. Even in 2015, and with all the challenges faced by the economy then, revenue to GDP was 13.2%. Given all the resources that this government has received, including two additional oil wells, government’s revenue to GDP is just about 12.1%. The fiscal deficit on his watch actually increased in spite of the covid-19 revenue windfalls, hence his claim of increasing revenues over the period is inconsistent with what happened to government expenditures.
In paragraph 6, the Minister spoke about resetting the financial architecture since 2017. The question is what the cost of doing so has been, and whether the exercise could not have been handled more prudently and at a much lesser cost and with minimal disruptions in the financial architecture.
In paragraph 7, the Minister took another wrong dive stating, “However, as many central banks, including Bank of Ghana, moved away from pursuing quantitative targets of monetary policy towards price targets, dominance of the central bank’s balance sheet asthe key metric has waned in many economies and in academic literature as well”. This is entirely incorrect, both in practice and in theory. The central bank’s balance sheet remains critical in the implementation of monetary policy, hence liquidity management is at the core of this function.
If the Minister had appreciated the workings of monetary policy, he would have known that despite the move from monetary targeting to inflation targeting, liquidity management or the ability to control the central bank’s balance sheet remains an integral part of monetary policy implementation.
The Minister must also know that the use of price targets does not mean that monetary aggregates no longer matter. They still do matter in monetary policy implementation and therefore excessive central bank financing still matters for monetary policy.
In paragraph 8, the Minister simply re-echoed the Bank of Ghana’s earlier argument that it was normal for a central bank to operate with negative equity, and that its losses recorded in 2022 would not affect its operational efficiency. These industrialised countries cited in the paragraph did not underwrite any insolvency of their governments which caused such losses. The pandemic and the Russia/Ukraine war rather provided windfall revenues to the government of Ghana, and hence cannot be a reason in the case of Ghana. If the losses and the consequent slide into negative equity (projected to be repeated in 2023) would not matter, why then is the IMF programme asking for a repair of the balance sheet of Bank of Ghana in the medium term?
In paragraph 12, the Minister made another flawed statement that, “Accordingly, as the focus shifts from direct targets of money supply to interest rates as operational targets, the framework for analysing central bank balance sheets has shifted, enabling central banks to play more interventionist roles in the economy than before”. This is completely and utterly wrong. No framework for analysing central bank balance sheet has shifted; it remains same. The Minister is probably confusing the recent asset purchase practices in some central banks in the industrialised world, with fiscal dominance. These are not the same at all.
The interventionist role played by those central banks was to lend to corporates in the private sector in those countries directly through asset purchases, which was later redeemed and hence the central bank’s balance sheet was restored to good health. This is totally different from what the Minister has done to Bank of Ghana’s balance sheet through illegal money printing and lending to government. Indeed, this practice is at the root of Ghana’s macroeconomic problems currently.
In paragraph 14, the Minister sought to rub salt into the injury of ordinary Ghanaians and pensioners who out of patriotism invested into the future of our country in longer dated bonds. The book of Proverbs 22:22 states, “Don’t steal from the poor, because they are poor. Don’t oppress the needy in the gate.” And yet this Minister continues to tout a so- called success of government’s debt operations that commenced in 2022. With sleaze, this Minister continues to quote the bible and does not realise that he and his Databank owe a moral and spiritual duty to the people of Ghana to refund the commissions they earned on those very bonds that he has restructured.
This is a minister who claims to be faithful to the bible and says that he is doing a voluntary job as Minister. Yet he would never respond to the call by Ghanaians to allow a more competent person to take over the economic and financial affairs of the country, in the face of his poor performance. On the new Bank of Ghana building, the Minister must appreciate the opinion of Ghanaians as represented by their parliamentarians, on the subject matter.
The central bank has made losses in three of the past six years; and is projected to declare a loss again in 2023 and possibly in 2024. It is therefore legitimate for citizens to seek clarifications regarding value for money considerations in executing such a project and whether current circumstances justify a project of that nature. The Minister should rather welcome the call for an independent audit into the project and to ensure value for money at the end of the day.
Towards the end of his statement, the Minister surprisingly veered off from the defense of Governor Addison and decided to call for governance reforms that he claims could strengthen the Bank of Ghana. He strangely suggests a plan to dislodge the time- honoured arrangement which makes the Governor of the Bank of Ghana the Chair of the Board, as is the case in over 99% of central banks. The Minister must realise that this is precisely why Parliament’s oversight function is key as provided in Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Act 2016 (Act 930). The Governor is mandated to report to Parliament frequently and to yield to the latter’s oversight function. Unfortunately, Governor Addison has not yielded as required, and the Minister perhaps does not require him to do so, because he himself is also often deficient in the requirement.
The Minister must not seek to dismantle this carefully thought-through corporate governance architecture at the central bank. There is a reason why this is so in almost all countries in the world. Clearly, the current legal and corporate governance regime at the Bank of Ghana is not the problem; Ken Ofori-Atta is the problem.
History will remember this Minister of Finance and the government’s Economic Mismanagement Team headed by Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia for taking Ghana to the IMF in an ambulance.
The economy that the NDC’s John Mahama government bequeathed to the Akufo-Addo/ Bawumia regime was far better than what Ghana has today. This is because the NPP inherited a public debt that was sustainable at 56% of GDP; the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has increased public debt to 103% of GDP with very little to show. In nominal terms, they inherited public debt of GHS 120 billion, which they have increased to approximately GHS600 billion with very little to show.
Again, the NDC left behind a robust economy with very strong buffers. The Mahama government left behind the Sinking Fund, Stabilisation Fund, Ghana Infrastructure Investment Bank (GIIF), Ghana EXIM Bank as well as a robust tax revenue and oil revenue from three oil fields which the NPP used to kickstart their administration. Yet they have very little to show and have collapsed the economy on their watch.
Furthermore, the NDC put in place a strong tax policy and a prudent and controlled expenditure regime, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Systems (GIFMIS). Yet the NPP came in and processed expenditure outside the GIFMIS architecture.
It is also noteworthy that the NDC government did not short-change Ghanaians with a haircut economy. The NDC government had a credit rating of B+; the Akufo-Addo/ Bawumia government’s management of the economy, with Ken Ofori-Atta as the Minister of Finance, is rated D, a super junky economy. Surprisingly, this government that boasted of not signing up to an IMF programme shamelessly did a U-turn and ended up with the worst form of an IMF programme; a programme that they announced and signed up at a time that they had collapsed the economy and Ghana’s economy was at the intensive care unit.
The Minister of Finance should not say anywhere again that the NDC administration left behind a derailed IMF programme. Clearly, at the time we were leaving office there was no monetary finance. For the first time in the history of Ghana, the government did not take money from the central bank even though the law allowed the then administration to take 5% of the previous year’s revenue from the central bank. But as a government that cared about the impact of inflation and how it could destroy the livelihoods of ordinary Ghanaians, we stayed away from borrowing from the central bank.
The people of Ghana would recall that because the Mahama administration left behind a robust economy, the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government within the first three months of its assumption of office was able to borrow US$2.25 billion from Franklin Templeton.
Today, that same Franklin Templeton will not lend Ghana even one Dollar because the country is not credit worthy.
The Minister of Finance should carry his mess and his shame. He should not bring the NDC into matters that border on his greed, state capture for his family and friends as well as his monumental failure in public office. We did better than they are doing and the NDC will always do better when the good people of Ghana give John Mahama and our party the opportunity to govern from January, 2025. Finally, the Minority in Parliament wishes to remind Governor Addison and Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta that the day of reckoning is very near and they will be held accountable for their collective mess.
The Minority caucus in Parliament has responded strongly to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s accusations against the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration regarding the state of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
In a written piece, Ofori-Atta stated that when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government took office in 2017, they inherited what he described as a ‘derailed IMF program’ and a financial industry that was facing significant ethical challenges from their predecessors.
This statement comes amidst a series of demands from the Minority for the resignation of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), whom they accuse of mismanaging the Central Bank.
Additionally, the Finance Minister, in his article, appealed for support in constructing a suitable new office for the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
In response to Ofori-Atta, Minority Leader Ato Forson released a statement asserting that the Mahama administration left behind a strong and stable economy.
“The Minister of Finance should not say anywhere again that the NDC administration left behind a derailed IMF programme. Clearly, at the time we were leaving office, there was no monetary finance. For the first time in the history of Ghana, the government did not take money from the central bank even though the law allowed the then administration to take 5% of the previous year’s revenue from the central bank.”
“The people of Ghana would recall that because the Mahama administration left behind a robust economy, the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government within the first three months of its assumption of office was able to borrow US$2.25 billion from Franklin Templeton”.
Ato Forson underscored that the NDC government achieved remarkable performance in contrast to what Ghanaians are currently observing during the Akufo-Addo administration.
“We did better than they are doing and the NDC will always do better when the good people of Ghana give John Mahama and our party the opportunity to govern from January 2025. Finally, the Minority in Parliament wishes to remind Governor Addison and Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta that the day of reckoning is very near and they will be held accountable for their collective mess,” he said.
He additionally stated that history will not forget Ofori-Atta for leading Ghana to the IMF under challenging circumstances, while also maintaining his insistence on the resignation of the Bank of Ghana Governor.
“History will remember this Minister of Finance and the government’s Economic Mismanagement Team headed by Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia for taking Ghana to the IMF in an ambulance”.
Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has expressed his backing for the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Ernest Addison, to remain in his position.
He opposes the Minority’s call for his removal or resignation in the wake of the Bank of Ghana’s financial losses in 2022.
In a write-up on September 14, the Finance Minister asserted that Dr. Ernest Addison is a dedicated professional who is actively contributing to the country’s development.
“Governor Addison is a competent professional of quiet courage. In these nearly seven years, we have worked together to ensure: the inviolability of the banking system; the establishment of the Consolidated Bank of Ghana (CBG) and the Development Bank of Ghana; the raising of over $10 billion in the Eurobond market and AfriExim bank.”
“He brought inflation down to single digits of 7.9% for the first time; and managed an impressive period of currency stability in our country including the implementation of the Gold-for-Oil programme.
“It is either simply the height of irony or a sad reflection of the state of public discourse in our country that this man, steps up in a period of unprecedented global economic meltdown and domestic economic crises, and he is being pilloried for his good work.”
The Minority in Parliament has criticized the Governor of the Central Bank and his deputies following the announcement of a GH¢60.8 billion loss for the year 2022.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, has raised concerns about Dr. Ernest Addison’s decision to allocate $250 million for the construction of a new central bank headquarters while the Bank is facing financial challenges. He has accused the BoG Governor of resorting to printing money to fund this project.
“The Bank of Ghana does not have money but spending $250 million for a new head office, which means he is printing additional money to finance this project,” Dr Forson alleged.
During a news conference held on Monday, August 8, Minority Leader Dr. Forson declared that if Dr. Addison and his deputies do not step down from their positions, the NDC will organize and rally concerned citizens to occupy the central bank.
But in a response, the BoG explained that the current “building also does not have the required strength to withstand the expected imposed significant earthquake loads that would be expected to occur in the Accra area.
It said, “Based on the above and looking at the strategic objective of positioning Ghana as the financial hub of the subregion, with prospects of a potential Headquarters for a future regional Central Bank, the Board and Management of the Bank considered a new Head Office building as the most important priority project to support the operational efficiency of the Bank.”
The Bank said it also places it “in a very good position to be the host of the regional Central Bank as we currently host the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) of the Sub-region.”
On the matter, the Finance Minister has appealed to the Ghanaian populace for their support in the construction of the new headquarters for the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
He emphasized that the central bank requires a modernized infrastructure to align with its evolving operations, especially as Ghana is the host country for The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) headquarters and aspires to become the financial services hub of the continent.
“With respect to the BoG’s new headquarters, the evidence is clear that decisions to build had already been made long before these ‘losses’ occurred.”
“It is important for us to support such a critical institution to modernise its operations and have a befitting office space for a country that hosts the AfCFTA and has the vision to become the financial services hub of the continent.”
The Minority in Parliament is calling for the immediate resignation of Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
According to the Minority, Aidoo’s management of the cocoa sector has been marred by mismanagement, leading to the worsening conditions of cocoa farmers.
They assert that he is no longer suitable for the CEO position.
Addressing the media in the Ashanti Region, Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson emphasized that despite the announcement of a 68 percent increase in the producer price, the cocoa sector is facing significant challenges and is in a state of decline.
“Clearly, something is amiss at COCOBOD because we are seeing the production of cocoa coming down to the lowest in the last fifteen years and we have also seen them recording massive losses since 2017. Last year, according to their own audit report, we declared a loss of GH¢2.4 billion in one year and so I don’t see why the CEO should be in office despite these happenings.”
The Minority has leveled accusations of incompetence and corruption against Aidoo, asserting that he has failed to implement necessary reforms aimed at enhancing the cocoa sector.
Additionally, the Minority has criticized the government for what they deem as shortchanging cocoa farmers by setting the price of a cocoa bag at GHC1,300. According to them, cocoa farmers should have received a minimum of GHC2,500 per bag.
During an interview on Eyewitness News, Eric Opoku, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs Committee of Parliament, strongly criticized the government for providing cocoa farmers with what he described as inadequate compensation.
He expressed deep concern over the remuneration given to cocoa farmers, emphasizing that this season presents an ideal opportunity for cocoa farmers to reap substantial benefits from their produce.
The Greater Accra Police Command has extended an invitation to the Minority in Parliament for a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, September 5, 2023.
The meeting aims to discuss the upcoming #OccupyBoG demonstration, which is intended to protest against the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, and his deputies.
This is the second time the Minority and the Police are meeting over the matter.
Originally planned for September 5, 2023, the Minority in Parliament has decided to reschedule their demonstration and picketing to September 12, 2023. This change in date is attributed to the recent court proceedings that took place on September 4, 2023.
The Police secured an injunction to halt the protest. They registered dissatisfaction with the intended route to be used by the Minority, arguing that it would affect public safety and order.
In a recent statement, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, explained in a statement that the court was unable to provide an immediate ruling due to the substantial preliminary legal objections raised by the lawyers representing the Minority in Parliament.
According to the Minority in a statement dated Monday, September 4, protestors would use its earlier proposed route.
The march will commence from the frontage of Parliament House – Osu Cemetery Traffic Light Ministry of Finance – High Court Complex – Kinbu – Makola – Rawlings Park – Opera Square – Bank of Ghana.
In response to this development, the Police, through a letter addressed to Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has requested a meeting on September 5, 2023, to discuss the logistical and operational details of the demonstration.
Minority MPs estimate that since Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) was launched in 2017, the government has spent a total of GH2.9 billion on the program.
According to a breakdown of program spending, the government invested GH400 million in 2018, GH380 million in 2019, and GH400 million or so in 2020. In addition, the program received GH 439 million in 2021, GH 614 million in 2022, and GH 660 million in 2023.
The sector’s growth rate has regrettably stayed low at around 0.7 percent, they claimed, despite the enormous sums spent, as the nation struggles with soaring food inflation not seen in decades.
“Having inherited an agricultural sector with a growth rate of 2.7 percent in 2016, and after expending millions of cedis on PFJ for six years, agriculture growth currently stands at a disastrous 0.7 percent,” the deputy Ranking Member, Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, said in a press statement.
PFJ, initiated in 2017, had the ambitious goal of modernizing agriculture, enhancing production, and ensuring food security and profitability for farmers. The program’s initial phase focused on crops, aiming to bolster food security, ensure the immediate availability of select food crops in the market, and create job opportunities.
However, it is worth noting that headline inflation surged to a staggering 54.1 percent in December 2022, and it presently stands at 43.1 percent. Against this backdrop, the program has been deemed a significant failure, yielding minimal positive outcomes.
The minority expressed apprehensions regarding the allocation of GH¢660 million to PFJ in 2023, despite the government’s announcement that the program’s first phase concluded in December 2022. Consequently, the statement called for transparency and demanded clarification regarding the purpose of the 2023 allocation.
Furthermore, it’s noteworthy that President Nana Akufo-Addo recently launched the second phase of PFJ, signaling a shift in policy direction from input subsidies, as observed in the first phase, to an input credit guarantee system.
“Why has government failed to support food-crop farmers in Ghana since January 2023? Private agro-dealers and aggregators have been implementing various forms of input credit support schemes to farmers for many years now; what exactly will this new PFJ input credit do differently?
“We still cannot account for the so-called increased production figures that were being churned out by the Minister for Agriculture. Where is the maize? Where is the rice? Where are the soybeans? One would have reasonably expected to have a food glut in Ghana by now, which would have driven down prices,” he stated.
The statement highlighted several recognized limitations within the program’s initial phase. These include imposing a significant budgetary burden on the government, adopting the value chain approach, limited accessibility to agricultural credit, low prioritization of the national strategic stock, and insufficient attention to the specific requirements of commercial small, medium, and large-scale farmers.
Furthermore, as per the minority member’s assertion, the government rebranded PFJ from its original concept, which was initially introduced during the tenure of former President Mahama and the NDC administration. The original initiative, known as the ‘Modernisation of Agricultural Productivity to the Local Economy’ (MAPLE), was intended to receive funding from the Canadian government, with a budget allocation of C$125 million, equivalent to US$120 million.
Dr. Seidu Jasaw maintained that upon a thorough examination of the PFJ Phase 2 program document, it became apparent that there were no substantially new elements incorporated, and it is unlikely to make a significant contribution to enhancing the country’s food security.
“We contend that the objective of this new scheme is to erase the mess from the programme’s failed first phase, and create a face-saving platform to continue the dissipation of our scarce resources through establishments by ‘this family and friends’ government,” the statement captured.
The government was also questioned about how it would safeguard smallholder farmers from the profit-driven practices and market risks that input dealers engage in, as well as how it would achieve import substitution for essential goods like rice, maize, and poultry since there are no policies in place to lower input/production costs.
Dr. Seidu Jasaw pointed out that the economy is unable to finance an input subsidy scheme under the IMF program.
Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has announced that the protest to the Head Office of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), originally scheduled for Tuesday, September 5, 2023, has been rescheduled to Tuesday, 12th September, 2023.
According to the Minority in a statement dated Monday, September 4, protestors would use its earlier proposed route.
The march will commence from the frontage of Parliament House – Osu Cemetery Traffic Light Ministry of Finance – High Court Complex – Kinbu – Makola – Rawlings Park – Opera Square – Bank of Ghana.
According to the Minority, the change in date is the result of the outcome of proceedings in court today, September 4, 2023, following an injunction filed by the Police Service.
The court was unable to give an instant ruling due to the weight of the preliminary legal objections raised by the lawyers for the Minority in Parliament, and requested the indulgence of the Minority to give its ruling on Friday, September 8, 2023.
In its statement, the Minority noted that “the legal objections raised today were as a result of the incompetent processes filed in court by the Ghana Police Service seeking to restrain the protest along the routes proposed by the Minority and its broad coalition of Civil Society Groups.”
“As law-abiding citizens respectful of the judiciary, we have decided to reschedule our protest taking into consideration these developments,” the statement added.
The protest march by the Minority is to call for the resignation of Governor Ernest Addison and his two deputies over the alleged gross mismanagement of the Central Bank which has occasioned an unprecedented loss of GHS60.8 billion and a negative equity of GHS55.1 billion.
Also, the Central Bank has been accused of illegally printing over GHS80 billion for the government and being “reckless” for building a head office at the cost of over $250 million when the Public Procurement Authority initially recommended $81 million.
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has called on all and sundry to remain resolute in the fight to protect the constitutional right to demonstrate.
The Minority in Parliament has decided to postpone its planned protest against the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Ernest Addison.
The originally scheduled protest was planned for Tuesday, September 5, at the Bank of Ghana headquarters in Accra.
This decision comes as a result of a court hearing, where the police sought an injunction on the protest due to security concerns.
The court has adjourned its ruling on a preliminary objection raised by the MPs’ lawyers to Friday, September 8.
The MPs, led by NDC’s Director of Legal Affairs, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, contested the Police’s authority to initiate the action independently. They argued that, according to Article 88(5) of the 1992 Constitution and the State Proceedings Act, only the Attorney General has the mandate to institute such action.
Nevertheless, Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has assured supporters that the protest would proceed after the court’s ruling is delivered.
The Minority has accused the Bank of Ghana of economic mismanagement and called for Dr. Addison’s resignation. The police, on the other hand, expressed concerns that the protest could disrupt the peace and requested a court injunction.
The court’s decision on the preliminary objection will determine whether the protest can proceed as planned.
The government’s announcement of the start of the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative has been criticized by Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, the committee’s deputy ranking member on the committee for food, agriculture, and cocoa affairs.
He claims that the recently introduced program is not unique and does not differ significantly from the original program, which did not achieve the desired outcomes.
“So clearly, there is nothing special about PFJ Phase 2.0. It’s just a way of telling us the government can no longer support input subsidy and that farmers will be left in the hands of private commercial entities to negotiate and transact their own production input regimes based on market determinants,” he said.
He said it “is substantially not different from the PFJ this government has implemented since 2017.”
Dr. Jasaw added that the International Monetary Fund‘s existence would make it more challenging for the government to fund agricultural projects.
“What exactly are you going to spend the 660 million Ghana cedis approved for PFJ in the 2023 budget on since PFJ ended way back in December 2022? Why has government failed to support food crop farmers in Ghana since January 2023?
“Private agro-dealers and aggregators have been implementing various forms of input credit support schemes to farmers for many years now, what exactly would this new PFJ input credit do differently? In what exact ways are you going to get financial products to agribusinesses at so-called reduced interest rates?” he questioned.
The NDC MP also highlighted the plight of smallholder farmers and the dangers they confront when it comes to inputs.
“How are you going to protect the smallholder farmer from profit motives and market risks under which the input dealers operate? How will you achieve import substitution for critical commodities like rice, maize, and poultry since you have no measure in place to reduce input/production costs?
“How are you going to protect the agri-businesses against the risk of no or under-recovery of produce from beneficiary smallholder farmers? What is the exact start date the farmers will begin to benefit from the government’s integrated smart input credit program?” he asked.
The MP also wanted to know where the program’s funding will come from given that was not included in the 2023 budget.
“Who would hold the produce stock at the end of each production government or private businesses? What are the top 3 priority commodities for the short term out of the eleven crops selected for promotion in PFJ Phase 2 that drive down current high food prices and will deliver food security in the short term?
“What is the cost of PFJ 2.0 and where will its funding come from since it wasn’t provided for in the 2023 budget?” he added.
The Minority in Parliament has expressed their unwavering determination to embark on a protest to demand the removal of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor, Dr Ernest Addison, and his two deputies despite an injunction granted by a High Court.
The Accra Regional Police Command of the Ghana Police Service successfully obtained an injunction to halt a planned demonstration for September 5, citing disagreements over the intended route for the protest.
The planned demonstration involved a march from Parliament House to the headquarters of the Central Bank, but the Police say the Central Bank’s headquarters is a designated security zone, hence cannot be among the locations. The Police also noted that the intended route poses potential risks to public order and safety and therefore called for a change in route.
While engagements between the Minority and the Police were ongoing over the matter, the latter proceeded to the High Court to receive an order that would halt the Minority from taking its planned route.
Reacting to the recent development, Deputy Minority Leader Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah emphasized the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs disappointment with the Police.
He, however, assured that the protest will take place as scheduled by hook or crook.
“We received a letter on Wednesday from the Ghana Police Service accompanied by a bailiff from the Accra High Court who served a notice or motion for an order to prohibit our Bank of Ghana protest, and we must say that we are very disappointed with this development which is an attempt to scatter the protest which is intended to hold the governor and his deputies accountable for their mismanagement of the bank which resulted in an unprecedented and colossal loss of GH¢60.8 billion, an amount which has had serious consequences on the economy and pushed close to one million Ghanaians into poverty.”
“And let us assure the people of Ghana that, as representatives, we will keep our sacred duty and we will uphold the public interest in line with our constitutionally guaranteed right to publicly protest, and we want to assure the people of Ghana that we have resolved to embark on this protest and nothing will stop us.”
Meanwhile, the High Court has scheduled a hearing on this matter for Monday, September 4, 2023.
Reason for BoG demo
The Minority has expressed dissatisfaction over the unauthorized printing of over GH¢80 billion by the central bank for the Akufo-Addo government.
According to the Minority, the Central Bank by so doing, has pushed some 850,000 Ghanaians into poverty.
On the matter, the BoG Governor, Dr Ernest Addison has explained that the central bank did not provide funding for the government until 2020 and 2022, during the COVID-19 Pandemic and after investors in the capital market declined to lend to the government.
According to him at a press conference on Monday, August 21, the central bank strictly adhered to the zero financing of government expenditure until the economic difficulties set in last year.
Dr Addison said the financing of government policies last year was undertaken with prior consultation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Parliamentary Minority has reacted to the Bank of Ghana’s reply regarding their 2022 released annual report and financial statements.
As per the Minority, the response from the Bank of Ghana fails to tackle the primary concern, which revolves around the printing of money by BoG on behalf of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP administration in 2021 and 2022. This, according to them, directly violates Section 30 of the Bank of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 2016 (ACT 918).
The Minority observed that within the statement, the Bank of Ghana fails to provide any plausible rationale for producing a significant sum of GHC35 billion in 2021 and GHC42 billion in 2022 to support the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP administration. This action, they emphasized, directly violates their governing legislation.
The Minority in a statement signed by its leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson described as an indisputable fact, that the amount of monies printed by BoG for the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government both in 2021 and 2022 far exceeds the legally acceptable threshold of 5% of the previous fiscal years’ total revenue.
This the Minority alleged the central bank did without cognizance of the legal duty imposed on the Governor of BoG to inform the Minister of Finance, who is required upon notification from the Governor of BoG to notify Parliament of the attainment of the 5% threshold and/or the setting of a new limit of government’s borrowing.
The statement indicated that the facts show that BoG acted as law unto itself by willfully engaging in the illegal printing of monies to finance the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government both in 2021 and 2022.
It said the illegal conduct of the Governor of BoG constitutes a criminal offense under section 67 of the Bank of Ghana Act and cannot be wished away by the flimsy justifications mounted by the Bank in the multiple press statements they have issued in the last couple of days.
Read details of the Minority’s full statement below:
PRESS STATEMENT
For Immediate Release
August 11, 2023
RE: RESPONSE TO PARLIAMENT’S MINORITY GROUP ON BANK OF GHANA’S 2022 PUBLISHED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The NDC Caucus in Parliament has noted with dismay a press statement from the Bank of Ghana dated 9th August 2023 which purports to respond to our press conference on the above-subject held on 8th August, 2023.
In the said press statement, the Bank of Ghana attempts to shamelessly justify its recklessness and mismanagement which resulted in the huge losses of GHS60.8 billion and the negative equity of GHS55.1 billion it recorded in the year 2022.
As a matter of fact, the Bank of Ghana’s unsigned press statement, is full of deliberate distortions and flimsy justifications which do not address the serious matters that were raised in our Moment of Truth presser last Tuesday.
The Minority caucus hereby responds as follows:
1. The referenced Bank of Ghana’s statement does not address the most fundamental issue which has to do with the printing of money by BOG for the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government in 2021 and 2022 in clear contravention of Section 30 of the Bank of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 2016 (ACT 918). Indeed, throughout the statement, BOG does not and could not have offered any reasonable justification for printing a whopping GHS35 billion in 2021 and GHS42 billion in 2022 to finance the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government, in clear breach of their governing law.
It is an indisputable fact, that the amount of monies printed by BOG for the reckless Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government both in 2021 and 2022 far exceeds the legally acceptable threshold of 5% of the previous fiscal years’ total revenue.
This the Bank did without cognizance of the legal duty imposed on the Governor of BOG to inform the Minister of Finance, who is required upon notification from the Governor of BOG to notify Parliament of the attainment of the 5% threshold and/or the setting of a new limit of government’s borrowing.
Indeed, the facts show that BOG acted as law unto itself by willfully engaging in the illegal printing of monies to finance the recklessness of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government both in 2021 and 2022.
This illegal conduct of the Governor of BOG constitutes a criminal offense under section 67 of the Bank of Ghana Act and cannot be wished away by the flimsy justifications mounted by the Bank in the multiple press statements they have issued in the last couple of days.
As a matter of fact, contrary to claims by the Governor of the Central Bank and his deputies that they were committed to promoting a cash-lite economy, they have been printing higher denominations of new GHS100 and GHS200 notes.
This together with the large injections of money into the economy caused currency-outside-banks to increase from GH¢14 billion in 2019 to GHȼ31.4 billion by 2022, representing an increase of over 124%.
Strangely, while the BoG kept increasing its policy rate and undertaking these injections at the same time, they knew very well that their actions could spike inflation and result in the Bank incurring significant costs.
As a direct consequence of the illegal printing of monies by the Bank of Ghana, the rate of inflation in the country spiraled to hyper levels last year, when Ghana recorded a record-high inflation rate of 54.1% in December 2022.
It bears reminding the Bank of Ghana that according to a recent World Bank report, this hyperinflation which was mainly occasioned by their recklessness and mismanagement, pushed over 850,000 people into poverty.
It is therefore totally irresponsible for the managers of the Bank of Ghana to conveniently ignore these serious legal infractions which have brought untold hardships on Ghanaians and rather engage in flimsy justifications and needless equalizations.
2. Secondly, on the very important issue of the illegal write-off of about GHS48 billion debt owed by the government to the Bank of Ghana, the explanation canvassed by the Central Bank in its statement of 9th August, 2023 is untenable, as it has no legal basis whatsoever.
The Bank of Ghana ought to know, that the mere reference to Government’s intention to engage in a domestic debt exchange program (DDEP) as communicated by the Finance Minister in the 2023 budget statement to Parliament, does not and cannot justify the bank’s breach of section 53 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016.
For emphasis, a mere declaration of intent to Parliament by the government to engage in debt restructuring does not amount to a resolution or approval by Parliament for BOG to write-off public funds. Neither does the IFRS accounting standard referred to by the Bank of Ghana permit the writing-off of public funds without Parliamentary approval.
We wish to state unequivocally for the records, that at no point has the Finance Minister presented a report to Parliament informing the house of the attainment of the 5% borrowing threshold or the setting of a new limit of government borrowing as required by section 30 of the Bank of Ghana Act. Nor has the Finance Minister sought the approval of Parliament for BOG to write-off any public funds, as required by section 53 of Public Financial Management Act 2016 (Act, 918).
The Bank of Ghana must do the needful by immediately reinstating the illegally written off liability of Government and stop the baseless justifications they are mounting.
3. It is instructive to note that, the Bank of Ghana has for the first time admitted that Ghana’s present economic malaise has been accessioned by a “culmination of fiscal overruns and debt distress” which resulted in Ghana losing access to both domestic and international markets, with its attendant credit rating downgrades, high currency depreciation, hyperinflation among others.
It is worthy of note, that for the first time, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana has effectively confessed, that COVID-19 and the Russia Ukraine war are not the main causes of our present economic woes as a country, but rather “fiscal overruns and debt distress” starting from 2019.
This confession by the Bank of Ghana, confirms the NDC’s long-held view that the economic mess we have on our hands is the product of the reckless borrowing and expenditures of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government.
Sadly, instead of advising the government to embark on the needed fiscal reforms and adjustments, the Bank of Ghana confesses that they decided to fund the recklessness of the government by engaging in the illegal printing of monies for the government, part of which they have illegally written off without recourse to Parliament.
The managers of the Bank of Ghana must recognise that the economic difficulties it alludes to in its statement of 9th August, 2023 are all self-inflicted and cannot be reasonable justification for the palpable illegalities they have engaged in and the unprecedented mess they have created.
4. Additionally, we wish to make the point, that none of the explanations put forward by the Bank of Ghana in its press statement of 9th August, 2023 can rationalize or justify the outrageous operational expenditures they engaged in 2022, as reported by their Auditors in the 2022 Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Bank.
We maintain, that despite the high rate of inflation and currency depreciation recorded last year as a result of the recklessness of BOG and the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government, it was unconscionable and unacceptable for BOG to have spent a staggering GHS131.6 million on vehicle maintenance; GHS67.9 million on computer-related expenses; GHS97.4 million on foreign and domestic travels; GHS32 million on communication expenses; and GHS357.9 million on banking supervision, in 2022 alone.
We say so because the severe economic difficulties the nation has been plunged into by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government with the abetment of BOG, calls for prudence and austerity by all state institutions including the Central Bank.
It is totally reprehensible, that the fees of the very Directors who have supervised this mess were increased by about 80% in the year 2022 alone.
5. Even more bizarre is the contrived justification for the new BOG head office which is costing the taxpayer a colossal $250 million (GHS3 billion) at this time of excruciating hardships for the nation.
The excuse that the current Bank of Ghana Head office is not earthquake resistant is most ridiculous to say the least.
We need not remind the Bank of Ghana that previous Governors and Directors of the bank maximized the operations and profit of the bank from that same old facility by deploying more reasonable options of relocating aspects of the bank’s operations to the Cedi House and another facility of the Bank on the Spintex Road.
The question BOG must answer is that; if at the time the Bank of Ghana recorded successive years of profit under NDC/Mahama government (2012-2016), the managers of the bank did not consider a new office complex an urgent priority but rather invested in the construction of the BOG hospital to support the healthcare needs of the country, how can BOG prioritize a new $250 million dollar office complex at a time it has recorded an unprecedented loss of GHS60.8 billion and a negative equity of GHS55.1 billion?
It is instructive to note, that the cost of the ill-timed new head office complex the BOG is rapidly putting up is four times the cost of the ultramodern Ecobank Head Office building and six times the cost of Kempinski hotel in Accra.
In fact, our conservative estimates show that the cost of the new head office complex the BOG is putting up can build at least, 3,750 new six (6)-unit classroom blocks to expand access to education or at least 3,500 CHP compounds to improve the access to health care delivery in the country.
It is also instructive to note, that the cost of the new Bank of Ghana head office complex is more than the capital expenditure allocation of the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Ministry of Transport put together.
Clearly, the outrageously expensive new head office complex of BOG is a misplaced priority. There can be absolutely no justification whatsoever for this profligacy at a time the Bank of Ghana must be concerned about its immediate recapitalization.
6. In the BOG press release dated August 9, 2023 the Governor stated that “This financial outcome has very little implication for the operations of the Bank of Ghana as supported by evidence from other Central banks”.
This statement is completely erroneous and must be treated with utmost contempt. The truth of the matter is that the Central banks BOG is referring to, did not underwrite the insolvency or bankruptcy of their Governments. Neither did they violate their governing laws with impunity as BOG has done. Hence, they would have space to absorb temporary losses unlike BOG.
The unprecedented losses incurred by BOG counts for various reasons and must not be taken lightly at all.
The BOG must understand that losses can reduce its gravitas and authority in supervising the financial sector. Also, losses can limit its ability to engage in effective monetary operations and impair its ability to use moral suasion in the discharge of its mandate.
7. In their press statement of August 1, 2023, BOG referred to a statement by the external auditors that “even though BOG would have a significant negative equity based on the huge impairment from 2022, structures are in place to ensure that the BOG remains policy solvent and well able to deliver on its primary mandate”.
This is clearly a misleading statement because it assumes that government would be able to recapitalize BOG over time and that the achievement of macroeconomic stability would in turn restore policy solvency to BOG.
As BOG itself stated, “the inability to cover costs and build sufficient buffers over the long term may require capital injection from the government which can undermine its independence and credibility of monetary policy and also affect public confidence in the Central bank’s operations”.
We must be mindful of government’s fiscal difficulties, hence the possibility that it may now be able to recapitalize BOG any time soon.
Also, there could be exogenous shocks that can impact the economy going forward which can result in macroeconomic instability and a continued depreciation of the cedi, for which BOG could experience huge losses again.
Therefore, the assessment of the External Auditors that the Central Bank will continue to remain policy solvent and discharge its mandate effectively should not be taken as a guarantee at all.
Again, the impression should not be created as though BOG’s source of funding its operations is infinite. As BOG itself stated in its statement dated August 1, 2023, “a Central bank policy solvency is the ongoing ability to fund and implement operations in line with the policy aims for which it has independent responsibility without recourse to the government. Therefore, policy solvency requires sufficient realized revenues to cover costs and to build longer-term capital reserves allowing for independent and appropriate policy decisions”.
8. Again, in their press statement dated August 1, 2023, BOG engaged in some unnecessary equalization by referring to other Central banks (not its peers) that have operated with negative equity. It also raised the issue of whether there is a difference between insolvency and negative equity; and, whether other Central banks (again not its peers) made losses in 2022.
The fact remains that the countries cited by BOG are all advanced industrialized countries with different economic structures.
Moreover, those countries did not finance their respective governments excessively, as BOG has done since 2019. Nor did they underwrite the insolvency of their governments like BOG has done.
BOG should rather pay heed and listen to criticisms and stop the window dressing of the dire straits it finds itself in. BOG should accept that the Bank is at a historic low and request immediate help to coerce government to prioritize re-financing the Bank as a matter of urgency.
CONCLUSION
There is no gainsaying the fact that, the Governor, his deputies and directors of BOG have compromised their independence and made their continuous stay in office untenable.
Their failed attempt to cite non-best practice as justification for their recklessness and mismanagement is most irresponsible to say the least, and yet another reason why they should pack out of the Bank of Ghana immediately
The fate of BOG now hangs solely on the ability of the bankrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP Government to recapitalize it.
In fact, it will take the nation more than 20 years to fix the mess that the current managers of BOG have created and move the bank from its current negative GHS55.1 billion equity to positive equity.
There is an urgent need for BOG’s internal operations to be reviewed to ensure that no losses would be posted or repeated this year.
The Governor, his deputies and entire Board have failed the nation and must resign without delay to begin the process of saving the BOG.
RE: RESPONSE TO PARLIAMENT’S MINORITY GROUP ON BANK OF GHANA’S 2022 PUBLISHED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The NDC Caucus in Parliament has noted with dismay a press statement from the Bank of Ghana dated 9th August, 2023 which purports to respond to our press conference on the above-subject held on 8th August, 2023.
In the said press statement, the Bank of Ghana attempts to shamelessly justify its recklessness and mismanagement, which resulted in the huge losses of GHS60.8 billion and the negative equity of GHS55.1 billion it recorded in the year 2022.
As a matter of fact, the Bank of Ghana’s unsigned press statement, is full of deliberate distortions and flimsy justifications which do not address the serious matters that were raised in our Moment of Truth presser last Tuesday.
The Minority caucus hereby responds as follows:
The referenced Bank of Ghana’s statement does not address the most fundamental issue which has to do with the printing of money by BOG for the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government in 2021 and 2022 in clear contravention of Section 30 of the Bank of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 2016 (ACT 918). Indeed, throughout the statement, BOG does not and could not have offered any reasonable justification for printing a whopping GHS35 billion in 2021 and GHS42 billion in 2022 to finance the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government, in clear breach of their governing law.
It is an indisputable fact, that the amount of monies printed by BOG for the reckless Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government both in 2021 and 2022 far exceeds the legally acceptable threshold of 5% of the previous fiscal years’ total revenue.
This the Bank did without cognizance of the legal duty imposed on the Governor of BOG to inform the Minister of Finance, who is required upon notification from the Governor of BOG to notify Parliament of the attainment of the 5% threshold and/or the setting of a new limit of government’s borrowing.
Indeed, the facts show that BOG acted as law unto itself by willfully engaging in the illegal printing of monies to finance the recklessness of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government both in 2021 and 2022.
This illegal conduct of the Governor of BOG constitutes a criminal offense under section 67 of the Bank of Ghana Act and cannot be wished away by the flimsy justifications mounted by the Bank in the multiple press statements they have issued in the last couple of days.
As a matter of fact, contrary to claims by the Governor of the Central Bank and his deputies that they were committed to promoting a cash-lite economy, they have been printing higher denominations of new GHS100 and GHS200 notes.
This together with the large injections of money into the economy caused currency-outside-banks to increase from GH¢14 billion in 2019 to GHȼ31.4 billion by 2022, representing an increase of over 124%.
Strangely, while the BoG kept increasing its policy rate and undertaking these injections at the same time, they knew very well that their actions could spike inflation and result in the Bank incurring significant costs.
As a direct consequence of the illegal printing of monies by the Bank of Ghana, the rate of inflation in the country spiraled to hyper levels last year, when Ghana recorded a record-high inflation rate of 54.1% in December 2022.
It bears reminding the Bank of Ghana that according to a recent World Bank report, this hyperinflation which was mainly occasioned by their recklessness and mismanagement, pushed over 850,000 people into poverty.
It is therefore totally irresponsible for the managers of the Bank of Ghana to conveniently ignore these serious legal infractions which have brought untold hardships on Ghanaians and rather engage in flimsy justifications and needless equalizations.
Secondly, on the very important issue of the illegal write-off of about GHS48 billion debt owed by the government to the Bank of Ghana, the explanation canvassed by the Central Bank in its statement of 9th August, 2023 is untenable, as it has no legal basis whatsoever.
The Bank of Ghana ought to know, that the mere reference to Government’s intention to engage in a domestic debt exchange program (DDEP) as communicated by the Finance Minister in the 2023 budget statement to Parliament, does not and cannot justify the bank’s breach of section 53 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016.
For emphasis, a mere declaration of intent to Parliament by the government to engage in debt restructuring does not amount to a resolution or approval by Parliament for BOG to write-off public funds. Neither does the IFRS accounting standard referred to by the Bank of Ghana permit the writing-off of public funds without Parliamentary approval.
We wish to state unequivocally for the records, that at no point has the Finance Minister presented a report to Parliament informing the house of the attainment of the 5% borrowing threshold or the setting of a new limit of government borrowing as required by section 30 of the Bank of Ghana Act. Nor has the Finance Minister sought the approval of Parliament for BOG to write-off any public funds, as required by section 53 of Public Financial Management Act 2016 (Act, 918).
The Bank of Ghana must do the needful by immediately reinstating the illegally written off liability of Government and stop the baseless justifications they are mounting.
It is instructive to note that, the Bank of Ghana has for the first time admitted that Ghana’s present economic malaise has been accessioned by a “culmination of fiscal overruns and debt distress” which resulted in Ghana losing access to both domestic and international markets, with its attendant credit rating downgrades, high currency depreciation, hyperinflation among others.
It is worthy of note, that for the first time, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana has effectively confessed, that COVID-19 and the Russia Ukraine war are not the main causes of our present economic woes as a country, but rather “fiscal overruns and debt distress” starting from 2019.
This confession by the Bank of Ghana, confirms the NDC’s long-held view that the economic mess we have on our hands is the product of the reckless borrowing and expenditures of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government.
Sadly, instead of advising the government to embark on the needed fiscal reforms and adjustments, the Bank of Ghana confesses that they decided to fund the recklessness of the government by engaging in the illegal printing of monies for the government, part of which they have illegally written off without recourse to Parliament.
The managers of the Bank of Ghana must recognise that the economic difficulties it alludes to in its statement of 9th August, 2023 are all self-inflicted and cannot be reasonable justification for the palpable illegalities they have engaged in and the unprecedented mess they have created.
Additionally, we wish to make the point, that none of the explanations put forward by the Bank of Ghana in its press statement of 9th August, 2023 can rationalize or justify the outrageous operational expenditures they engaged in 2022, as reported by their Auditors in the 2022 Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Bank.
We maintain, that despite the high rate of inflation and currency depreciation recorded last year as a result of the recklessness of BOG and the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government, it was unconscionable and unacceptable for BOG to have spent a staggering GHS131.6 million on vehicle maintenance; GHS67.9 million on computer-related expenses; GHS97.4 million on foreign and domestic travels; GHS32 million on communication expenses; and GHS357.9 million on banking supervision, in 2022 alone.
We say so because the severe economic difficulties the nation has been plunged into by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government with the abetment of BOG, calls for prudence and austerity by all state institutions including the Central Bank.
It is totally reprehensible, that the fees of the very Directors who have supervised this mess were increased by about 80% in the year 2022 alone.
Even more bizarre is the contrived justification for the new BOG head office which is costing the taxpayer a colossal $250 million (GHS3 billion) at this time of excruciating hardships for the nation.
The excuse that the current Bank of Ghana Head office is not earthquake resistant is most ridiculous to say the least.
We need not remind the Bank of Ghana that previous Governors and Directors of the bank maximized the operations and profit of the bank from that same old facility by deploying more reasonable options of relocating aspects of the bank’s operations to the Cedi House and another facility of the Bank on the Spintex Road.
The question BOG must answer is that; if at the time the Bank of Ghana recorded successive years of profit under NDC/Mahama government (2012-2016), the managers of the bank did not consider a new office complex an urgent priority but rather invested in the construction of the BOG hospital to support the healthcare needs of the country, how can BOG prioritize a new $250 million dollar office complex at a time it has recorded an unprecedented loss of GHS60.8 billion and a negative equity of GHS55.1 billion?
It is instructive to note, that the cost of the ill-timed new head office complex the BOG is rapidly putting up is four times the cost of the ultramodern Ecobank Head Office building and six times the cost of Kempinski hotel in Accra.
In fact, our conservative estimates show that the cost of the new head office complex the BOG is putting up can build at least, 3,750 new six (6)-unit classroom blocks to expand access to education or at least 3,500 CHP compounds to improve the access to health care delivery in the country.
It is also instructive to note, that the cost of the new Bank of Ghana head office complex is more than the capital expenditure allocation of the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Ministry of Transport put together.
Clearly, the outrageously expensive new head office complex of BOG is a misplaced priority. There can be absolutely no justification whatsoever for this profligacy at a time the Bank of Ghana must be concerned about its immediate recapitalization.
In the BOG press release dated August 9, 2023 the Governor stated that “ This financial outcome has very little implication for the operations of the Bank of Ghana as supported by evidence from other Central banks”.
This statement is completely erroneous and must be treated with utmost contempt. The truth of the matter is that the Central banks BOG is referring to, did not underwrite the insolvency or bankruptcy of their Governments. Neither did they violate their governing laws with impunity as BOG has done. Hence, they would have space to absorb temporary losses unlike BOG.
The unprecedented losses incurred by BOG counts for various reasons and must not be taken lightly at all.
The BOG must understand that losses can reduce its gravitas and authority in supervising the financial sector. Also, losses can limit its ability to engage in effective monetary operations and impair its ability to use moral suasion in the discharge of its mandate.
In their press statement of August 1, 2023, BOG referred to a statement by the external auditors that “even though BOG would have a significant negative equity based on the huge impairment from 2022, structures are in place to ensure that the BOG remains policy solvent and well able to deliver on its primary mandate”.
This is clearly a misleading statement because it assumes that government would be able to recapitalize BOG over time and that the achievement of macroeconomic stability would in turn restore policy solvency to BOG.
As BOG itself stated, “the inability to cover costs and build sufficient buffers over the long term may require capital injection from the government which can undermine its independence and credibility of monetary policy and also affect public confidence in the Central bank’s operations”.
We must be mindful of government’s fiscal difficulties, hence the possibility that it may now be able to recapitalize BOG any time soon.
Also, there could be exogenous shocks that can impact the economy going forward which can result in macroeconomic instability and a continued depreciation of the cedi, for which BOG could experience huge losses again.
Therefore, the assessment of the External Auditors that the Central Bank will continue to remain policy solvent and discharge its mandate effectively should not be taken as a guarantee at all.
Again, the impression should not be created as though BOG’s source of funding its operations is infinite. As BOG itself stated in its statement dated August 1, 2023, “a Central bank policy solvency is the ongoing ability to fund and implement operations in line with the policy aims for which it has independent responsibility without recourse to the government. Therefore, policy solvency requires sufficient realized revenues to cover costs and to build longer-term capital reserves allowing for independent and appropriate policy decisions”.
Again, in their press statement dated August 1, 2023, BOG engaged in some unnecessary equalization by referring to other Central banks (not its peers) that have operated with negative equity. It also raised the issue of whether there is a difference between insolvency and negative equity; and, whether other Central banks (again not its peers) made losses in 2022.
The fact remains that the countries cited by BOG are all advanced industrialized countries with different economic structures.
Moreover, those countries did not finance their respective governments excessively, as BOG has done since 2019. Nor did they underwrite the insolvency of their governments like BOG has done.
BOG should rather pay heed and listen to criticisms and stop the window dressing of the dire straits it finds itself in. BOG should accept that the Bank is at a historic low and request immediate help to coerce government to prioritize re-financing the Bank as a matter of urgency.
CONCLUSION There is no gainsaying the fact that, the Governor, his deputies and directors of BOG have compromised their independence and made their continuous stay in office untenable.
Their failed attempt to cite non-best practice as justification for their recklessness and mismanagement is most irresponsible to say the least, and yet another reason why they should pack out of the Bank of Ghana immediately
The fate of BOG now hangs solely on the ability of the bankrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP Government to recapitalize it.
In fact, it will take the nation more than 20 years to fix the mess that the current managers of BOG have created and move the bank from its current negative GHS55.1 billion equity to positive equity.
There is an urgent need for BOG’s internal operations to be reviewed to ensure that no losses would be posted or repeated this year.
The Governor, his deputies and entire Board have failed the nation and must resign without delay to begin the process of saving the BOG.
A Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. John Ampontuah Kumah, has refuted assertions made by the Minority Leader regarding the government’s purported intention to implement a Bank of Ghana (BoG) recapitalization levy for citizens to bear.
During a press conference held on Tuesday, August 8, Dr. Ato Forson stated that the government’s aim is to introduce the levy as a preventive measure to avert the potential collapse of the central bank due to its recent financial setbacks.
“The IMF has made offers to assist the Government to develop a plan for the recapitalization of the Central Bank.
That is why paragraph 18 of Ghana’s Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policy (MEFP) sent to IMF stated this fact.”
“Let me assure you that very soon, Ghanaians will be made to pay for Bank of Ghana recapitalization levy, a tax to recapitalise the Bank of Ghana, because the central bank has collapsed virtually,” the Minority Leader claimed.
In a Facebook update posted on Wednesday, August 8, the Deputy Minister of Finance unequivocally rejected the assertion. The Member of Parliament for Ejisu clarified that the government has no intention of implementing the suggested levy, emphasizing the robustness of the Bank of Ghana.
He emphasized that the Bank of Ghana remains sturdy and urged Ghanaians to dismiss the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s propagandist claims.
“Ignore this funny NDC Propaganda about the collapse of the Bank of Ghana (BoG). BoG is Solid!”
“The NDC is funny! It’s not true that a recapitalisation levy is to be introduced for BoG, the Central Bank hasn’t collapsed.”
“The main source of income to the Bank is from government transactions, i.e. fees and charges on all government transfers, the bank’s investments in marketable instruments, and also earnings from non-marketable holdings of the Bank,” he said.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has been urged by the minority in parliament to refuse to pay a sum of 187 million cedis that is allegedly owing to West Blue, a private corporation.
They claim that the West Blue company’s legal counsel, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has been sending letters to the GRA and the Finance Ministry to put pressure on them to pay the business.
North Tongu MP and the ranking member of the foreign affairs committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said they have brought the issue to the Finance Committee’s attention for further review.
In response to the 2023 mid-year budget review presented in Parliament on August 2, the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, criticized the Central Bank for being responsible for the depletion of Ghana’s external reserves.
During his address, Dr. Ato Forson highlighted that the Bank of Ghana’s printing of money led to the unprecedented depreciation of the Ghanaian Cedi, which resulted in hyperinflation in 2022.
According to him, the value of the Cedi plummeted from GH¢6 to $1 to over GH¢15 to $1 in 2022, representing a staggering 100% depreciation on a straight-line calculation.
The combination of this severe depreciation and the soaring inflation rates has had profound economic consequences, causing even the once wealthy to fall into the middle-class category, and pushing the already impoverished population further into hardship.
Dr. Ato Forson further emphasized the alarming impact of inflation, as it forced approximately 850,000 people to slip below the poverty line in 2022, as reported by the World Bank.
This concerning situation has prompted calls for accountability from the Central Bank for its role in the country’s current financial challenges.
Dr Ato Forson said despite the earlier spirited denials by the Bank of Ghana and the government, “the government now admits that indeed the Bank of Ghana printed money to finance its over-bloated government expenditures in 2022”.
“Paragraph 8 of the IMF Staff Report gives further detail that the Bank of Ghana illegally printed over GHC45 billion representing 7.2% of GDP in 2022 alone, and GH¢35 billion in 2021. This is the first in the history of Ghana”, he said.
Describing the Central Bank as “a crime scene”, the Minority Leader said the government was instrumental in the commission of the sins of the Bank. “The Bank of Ghana is certainly a crime scene and the economic managers led by Mr. Strategist aided and abetted this economic crime”, Dr Ato Forson added.
He said on the watch of the current managers of the economy, Ghana’s public debt shot up from GH¢120 billion in 2016 to GH¢600 billion by the end of 2022, representing an increase of about 400%.
The Minority Leader pointed out that following the high debt levels, the country could not honour its obligations to its local and foreign debtors. “As a result of these high debt levels, Ghana defaulted in the repayment of both our domestic and foreign debts, the first time in our history”.
He said this explains why pensioners picketed at the Ministry of Finance to demand the payment of their interest and principal, which was another unenviable first in the history of Ghana. He added that that “rating agencies downgraded Ghana’s credit worthiness to “D”, in other words ‘super junky’.
Dr Ato Forson observed that the Ghana’s financial sector has virtually collapsed, with all the 23 banks in the country recording “massive impairment losses of over GH¢18 billion in 2022”.
He said “this is excluding the impairment losses of the non-bank financial institutions and the insurance companies”, adding that “the cost of the economic mismanagement by this government is unprecedented”.
Former deputy minister of finance Dr. Ato Forson claimed that the Bank of Ghana has also suffered as a result of the domestic debt restructuring carried out by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.
In fact, the Bank of Ghana is bankrupt and in severe financial crisis, he declared, calling for immediate intervention.
The Bank of Ghana reported losses totaling over GH60.8 billion and negative equity exceeding GH55.1 billion in 2022.
The Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, has expressed his concern about the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government, stating that it has exacerbated the challenges faced by Ghanaians rather than alleviating them.
Addressing the Parliament after the presentation of the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review by Finance Minister Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, Dr. Forson disputed the Finance Minister’s claim that the nation’s economic performance indicated a positive turnaround.
He argued that the available evidence and data indicate a worsening of the country’s problems.
“Mr Speaker, the Finance Minister says the economic performance of the nation shows that we have turned the corner (recovering from the difficult situation. However, the evidence and the numbers before us show that our woes have rather deepened…,” he said.
One of the major issues Dr. Forson highlighted was the declining economic growth rate, which he attributed to the Finance Minister’s decision to borrow heavily from the Treasury Bill Market. The increase in borrowing has contributed to a contraction in the economy.
Dr. Forson emphasized that the continuous borrowing by the Government is a significant factor behind the high inflation rate.
He also pointed out that the Central Bank has been forced to raise Monetary Policy rates due to the rising lending rates caused by the Government’s over-borrowing and over-expenditure.
“The Finance Minister has said to us today that he is reversing economic growth from 2.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Products (GDP) to 1.50 of GDP… This clearly shows that the economy is contracting and declining,” he said.
“Mr Speaker, I say this because he (the Finance Minister) said to us here and now that he had borrowed GHC5.5 billion from January to June from the Treasury Bill Market.”
”Mr Speaker, not long ago, the Minister had informed us that he would not borrow at all in the year 2023… However, the Minister says going into the remaining part of the year he was going to borrow another GHC41.00 billion.”
The Minority Leader expressed concern about the escalating lending rates, with Treasury Bill rates rising from about 14 percent to approximately 23 to 25 percent, with the possibility of further increases in the future.
“Let our Minister not say anywhere that he has turned the corner, he has rather deepened our woes,” he said.
Regarding the stability of the Ghana Cedi, Dr. Forson mentioned that it had only stabilized due to the country’s failure to service its external debts, particularly those owed to Eurobond and countries like China, Saudi Arabia, India, the United Kingdom (UK), Japan, France, and the Czech Republic. However, he warned that the situation could worsen in the future when the country starts servicing these debts in January 2024, leading to potential depreciation of the cedi.
In conclusion, Dr. Forson urged the Finance Minister not to claim that the country has turned the corner economically, as he believes that the 2023 Budget has, in fact, deepened the challenges faced by Ghanaians. He emphasized the negative consequences of continuous borrowing and urged for measures to reduce lending rates and stabilize the currency.
“Looking into the Budget, by this time Ghana should have serviced its external debts, approximately 11 million Ghana Cedis.
“As early as January 2024, we will start serving these debts, and if we are to start servicing these debts, don’t be surprised that our currency, the cedi, will start depreciating once again,” he said.
The Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, has labelled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta‘s comments about Ghana’s improving economy “false and misleading.”
During the 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on July 31, Mr. Ofori-Atta asserted that Ghana was making modest gains in turning the economy around after facing severe economic hardships in 2022.
He highlighted the positive results of the government’s plans and programs and called on the nation to recognize the achievements of the past three years.
In response, Dr. Ato Forson contested the Finance Minister’s statements and presented evidence to the contrary.
He expressed concerns about the current state of the economy, citing a downward revision of economic growth from 2.8% of GDP to 1.5% of GDP, indicating a slower recovery than expected.
Additionally, he criticized the government for borrowing significant amounts from the T-Bill market, despite earlier assurances of not borrowing in 2023. He also attributed the depreciation of the Cedi to defaults in the payment of external interest and principal.
Dr. Ato Forson argued that, contrary to the Finance Minister’s claims, the situation has worsened under the Akufo-Addo government.
“The performance so far shows that we have turned the corner. Unfortunately, the evidence and the numbers before us, show us that he has rather deepened our woes,” Cassiel Ato Forson said.
“I say this because he has said to us today that he’s revising economic growth from 2.8% of GDP to 1.5% of GDP. Again, he said to us here and now that he has borrowed 5.5 billion Ghana cedis from January to June, from the T-Bill market. Mr Speaker, not long ago, this same Minister informed us that he will not borrow at all in the year 2023. And that going into the remaining parts of the year, he is going to borrow another 41 billion Ghana cedis.”
“Aside from that, the Cedi depreciation we are seeing so far, it’s largely because we have defaulted in the payment of external interest and principal. That is why the cedi has depreciated.”
Following the recent revelations of construction lapses in the dams built under the ‘One Village, One Dam’ policy by the governing New Patriotic Party, (NPP) Minority MPs have strongly criticized the initiative, labelling it a mere political gimmick.
They argue that the policy was hastily implemented without proper consideration.
The criticism from the Minority MPs comes in the wake of JoyNews’ documentary, titled ‘Thirsty Dams,’ which exposed the poor condition of the dams constructed during the Akufo-Addo government’s tenure.
Among those expressing their concerns was Samson Ahi, the NDC MP for Bodi Constituency in the Western North Region.
According to Mr. Ahi, the ‘One Village, One Dam’ policy lacked careful planning and was primarily used as a propaganda tool to deceive the Ghanaian public.
He pointed out that despite the government’s claims of having built dams, many of them were unable to retain water even during the rainy season, indicating poor execution.
Furthermore, the MPs accused the NPP government of prioritizing fulfilling a manifesto promise over the well-being of the communities affected by the dams. They emphasized that the policy’s rushed implementation led to subpar construction, causing ongoing challenges with water supply in those areas.
Henry Yiadom Boakye, the NDC MP for Akwatia Constituency in the Eastern Region, echoed these concerns, highlighting the failure of the dams to deliver on their promised benefits.
He lamented that despite significant financial investments exceeding 200 million, the project failed to provide any meaningful returns or benefits to the communities.
The MPs argued that such resources could have been better utilized in other sectors like education, instead of being wasted on a project that did not meet its intended objectives.
They concluded that the evidence presented in the documentary reinforces their initial opposition to the ‘One Village, One Dam’ policy and calls for a more responsible approach to infrastructure development in the future.
The Minority Caucus stated that it will explore all available options to defend their colleague, James Gyakye Quayson as well as protect his interests.
Quayson’s legal team had appealed the High Court’s decision for a daily trial.
However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the application on July 19, allowing the daily trial of the embattled MP to proceed.
The Minority Chief Whip, Kwame Governs Agbodza, expressed concerns about the consequences and implications of this decision on the MP’s ability to serve his constituents.
Below is the full statement from the Minority
The Minority in Parliament has decided to reciprocate its response to the government’s escalation of the ongoing persecution of the Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency, Hon. James Gyakye Quayson.
Following a request by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame, that Hon. James Gyakye Quayson be tried on a daily basis, despite an application for stay of proceedings and a pending application before the Court of Appeal against the daily trial, the High Court has ruled that it will continue to hear the case daily.
In essence, the rulings by the High Court put Hon. James Gyakye Quayson in the same position that he was placed in by the Supreme Court before the Assin North Constituency by-election.
If the Member of Parliament must appear in court every week day for trial, what time will he have to attend to Parliamentary business to represent the people of Assin North? We are therefore, at this point, including all options available to us to defend and protect our colleague.
Hon. James Gyakye Quayson is the only person to have been elected twice within a Parliamentary term.
He first won the 2020 Parliamentary election in Assin North Constituency, which was declared null and void by the Supreme Court after two and a half years. This triggered a by-election which he won again by an overwhelming 57.56% on 27th June, 2023.
The minority party in parliament has threatened to use all legal means to prevent the Tema Oil Refinery’s planned privatization by Torrentco.
Bright Simmons, vice president of Imani Africa, was the first to voice concerns about the six-year contract, which could only bring Ghana $3 million in revenue.
John Abdulai Jinapor, the committee’s ranking member for mines and energy, said the contract is not in the nation’s best interests when speaking to the media in parliament.
He requested that the government end the agreement right away so that a fair selection procedure may be used to identify a viable strategic partner for the revival of TOR.
“The Minority once again has been following yet another emerging scandal in the energy sector. It does appear that even when we decide that we want to take a rest the Akufo-Addo led government will always inundate us with scandals especially in the energy sector.
“We have been keenly following developments at the Tema Oil Refinery. We have become aware by the Akufo-Addo government to lease the Tema Oil Refinery for a six year period to a company known as Torrentco Asset Management Company,” Mr. Jinapor stated.
He continued: “Our checks have indicated that this company has no track record when it comes to oil refineries. It has no track record when it comes to the oil sector and its balance sheet does suggest that it cannot provide the needed support to Tema Oil Refinery.”
The minister added that Tema Oil Refinery is the only State refinery with the capacity to refine around 45,000 barrels of oil per day and is a vital asset.
“If Tema Oil Refinery is well positioned and strategically positioned it will result in millions if not billions of savings when it comes to import substitution,” he added.
The Minority leader in parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has made claims that the government refuses to use budgetary restraint while dealing with issues that are seriously affecting the nation.
The mid-year budget review will be presented to parliament by finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta on July 25, 2023. According to Ato Forson, the minority will fight any attempt by the government to enact new taxes.
Instead of enacting new tax policies, he claims there is “massive room” for spending reductions.
“I won’t be surprised if the government introduces new measures because if you read the MEFP, the IMF is asking for additional measures of about 1% of GDP and I don’t know where that is going to come from.
“If I look carefully, there is a massive room for expenditure cuts, but the government obviously is indiscipline, and they don’t seem to care,” he said.
Dr. Ato Forson continued, “They want to live large on the back of the people of Ghana. So, they need to cut that kind of expenditure and if I am the one in charge or responsible, I would rather go for a cut in expenditure as against a tax measure or an increase in taxation.”
Any move by the government to increase taxes during the mid-year budget review will be opposed, according to the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
According to him, the NDC MPs will ensure that the government cuts its spending rather than impoverishing Ghanaians who are already impoverished.
Speaking to the media, he argued that there is plenty of room to cut spending.
“I won’t be surprised if the government introduces new measures because if you read the MEFP, the IMF is asking for additional measures of about 1% of GDP and I don’t know where that is going to come from.”
“If I look carefully, there is a massive room for expenditure cuts, but the government obviously is indiscipline, and they don’t seem to care.”
“They want to live large on the back of the people of Ghana. So they need to cut that kind of expenditure and if I am the one in charge or responsible, I would rather go for a cut in expenditure as against a tax measure or an increase in taxation,” he added.
Ken Ofori-Atta, Finance Minister, will submit the 2023 mid-year budget review to Parliament on July 25.
This will be his first time doing so since the government agreed to an IMF arrangement.
Prior to that, industry participants have already requested the government to take advantage of the chance to eliminate some tax breaks.
Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama, has strongly criticized the Minority in Parliament for their recent remarks regarding the selective payment of debts owed to Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
This response comes after John Abdulai Jinapor, the Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee, accused the Ministry of Finance of engaging in discriminatory payment practices towards the IPPs.
Mr Mahama has dismissed the claims and labelled them as unfair.
Allegations of selective payment
The Minority in Parliament recently accused the Ministry of Finance of engaging in “selective and discriminatory payment” to some preferred IPPs, while leaving others to their own fate.
“The Finance Minister, instead of dealing with the Chamber of IPPs, is engaged in selective and discriminatory payment, selecting some preferred IPPs, paying them, and leaving them to their own fate,” Mr Jinapor stated.
The Chamber of IPPs had earlier issued a threat to shut down all plants after July 1, 2023, due to the government’s delay in settling a $1.7 billion debt owed them by ECG.
However, it rescinded its decision after a partial payment was made to the power producers.
ECG boss defends payments
But speaking on TV3’s The Key Points regarding the Minority’s statement on selective payment, Mr Dubik Mahama fumed that it was unnecessary for the Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee to have made that statement, especially when negotiations were still underway.
“These are some of the statements that I think are so unfair because if you make this statement, it is based on what?” he asked.
“It’s like having five children and thinking that all your children are the same. All your children are not the same.
“Look at all of them across the board and look at what happens when something happens,” he noted.
Though Mr Dubik refused to divulge the details of the payments made to the various individual IPPs, he expressed worry over the probable jeopardy of the current ongoing negotiations with the IPPs, saying that “I honestly think it is not a fair statement to make because, in my candid opinion, there’s an issue.
“If we are trying to solve the issue, imagine from that statement that we walk to a meeting with the IPPs and nobody wants to talk to us at the roundtable. That’s an unfair statement. You don’t make statements like that in public.”
Background
Samuel Dubik Mahama was appointed as the new Managing Director of ECG by President Nana Akufo-Addo in May 2022. He took over from Kwame Agyeman–Budu, who retired after serving for almost three years. Prior to this appointment, Samuel Mahama was a non-executive Director at ECG. He is a legal practitioner and a graduate of the University of Ghana.
Source: The Independent Ghana | Abigail Twumwaa Ampofo
The Minority in Parliament is raising concerns about the government’s implementation of a $7 charge on airline tickets, signaling the need for attention and action.
The Minority describes the charge as illegal as it is only Parliament that can impose fees and charges.
Sources indicate that the Ghana Health Service (GHS) is impressing on airlines to add $7 per passenger on each international airline ticket sold and remit the same to government agency as a luggage fumigation charge.
AviationGhana sources revealed that the decision of the GHS was conveyed by the Ghana Airports Company Limited to airlines servicing Accra’s Kotoka International Airport at a meeting held on Thursday, June 22, in Accra.
Speaking to JoyNews, Minority Chief Whip and Ranking Member on the Roads and Transport Committee Governs Kwame Agbodza urged airlines to disregard the directive from government to charge that amount.
“The stakeholders have been unhappy about it, the airlines feel this will make their work even more difficult knowing that after COVID, many airlines and related businesses are still struggling to recover.
“You’d realize that airline tickets are still considerably high. To charge this amount for fumigation of bags is an absurdity. We are not going to accept this.
“No agency of government has the right to impose additional charges without the knowledge of Parliament and I encourage airlines to disregard this for now until we all come to the conclusion that this is relevant,” he said.
Governs Kwame Agbodza also explained that Parliament had been completely sidelined in the imposition of the charge insisting the relevant committee in Parliament, the Roads and Transport Committee was not privy to the charge.
The Minority Chief Whip also claimed this an avenue by some government officials to steal from the ordinary Ghanaian even in these challenging economic times.
“I’ve never seen anything like fumigation of bag charge before, in any case, what is the meaning of fumigation of bags that you’re going to charge passengers US$7?
“What kind of chemicals are you going to use? What kind of contamination are we talking about? This is a very unnecessary attempt to basically take close to $15 million from passengers.
“This is not the time, the airlines are struggling, people are squeezed, we should not be making life difficult for the airlines and the passengers”, he stressed.
The Minority say they will in the coming days push for the full details to be brought to Parliament and do everything necessary to prevent the imposition of what they are calling an illegal charge.
The Minority in Parliament has expressed concerns over the potential negative impact on businesses following the government’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the quarterly adjustments of utility tariffs.
The Caucus predicts a bleak outlook for businesses, citing the government’s plan to raise utility tariffs every three months without consulting the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
They argue that this will exacerbate the already high cost of doing business and worsen the challenging economic conditions.
During a media address, Isaac Adongo, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament, emphasized the impending consequences of these tariff increases on the Ghanaian population in the coming days.
“Every three months, they will increase electricity and water tariffs without due regard to its impacts on individuals, households, and businesses and this will definitely impact badly in the cost of doing business and feed into the current debilitating inflation and suffering being experienced by Ghanaians.
“Now you go and buy electricity and when you get home, you are afraid to slot the card because the units on the card are not enough, and you will need to go back and buy to top up.”
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs on Parliament’s Appointments Committee have officially endorsed Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo as the nominee for Chief Justice, 12 days after her appearance before the committee for vetting.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, 6th June 2023, Mahama Ayariga, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, announced on behalf of the Minority NDC that they find Justice Torkornoo fully qualified to assume the position of Chief Justice, despite concerns raised regarding her involvement in the Supreme Court’s ruling on James Gyakye Quayson’s dual citizenship case.
“We, the members of the Appointments Committee representing the National Democratic Congress, unanimously approve the nomination of Justice Torkornoo as Chief Justice,” he affirmed.
“Her impressive CV showcases her extensive experience, having served as a judge from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and eventually at the Supreme Court. We believe that capable women should be given the opportunity to hold key national positions. While we may have differing views on certain aspects of her jurisprudence, we acknowledge her qualifications for the esteemed role of Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana,” added the MP.
Following her vetting on 26th May, the NDC initially announced that they would withhold their decision until the Supreme Court releases its full ruling on James Gyakye Quayson’s dual citizenship case.
On Monday, June 5, the apex court provided the reasons behind its decision to uphold the Cape Coast High Court’s verdict to annul the 2020 Parliamentary elections in Assin North, hence directing Parliament to expunge the name of James Gyakye Quayson from its records.
Reasons for SC’s verdict
1. Upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 94(2))a) of the Constitution, 1992 of the Republic of Ghana the 1st Defendant was not qualified at the time of filing his nomination forms between 5th to 9 October 2020 to contest the 2020 Parliamentary elections for the Assin North Constituency as a Member of Parliament.
2. Upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the Constitution, 1992 the decision of the 2nd Defendant to permit the 1st Defendant to contest the Parliamentary Elections in the Assin North Constituency when the 1st Defendant had not shown evidence of the cancellation of his citizenship of Canada is an act that is inconsistent with and violates Article 94(2)(a) of the Constitution, 1992 of the Republic of Ghana.
3. Upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the Constitution, 1992 of the Republic of Ghana the election of the 1st Defendant as Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency was unconstitutional.
4. Upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the Constitution, 1992 of the Republic of Ghana the swearing in of 1st defendant as Member of Parliament for the Assin North Constituency was unconstitutional, null and void and of no legal effect.
NDC MPs displeased with court’s verdict
According to Mr Ayariga, the Supreme Court failed to deal with the substantive matter – qualification to be a Member of Parliament and rather dealt with the eligibility or qualification of a person to contest as an MP.
“While the clear language of the constitution was dealing with qualification to be a Member of Parliament, the Supreme Court veered off and was dealing with eligibility or qualification of a person to contest as a Member of Parliament.”
“I am quoting the Supreme Court directly in their reason. They said ‘we are dealing with eligibility or qualification of a person to contest as a Member of Parliament’. When the Supreme Court talks about the qualification to be a Member of Parliament, it is after the contest that you get sworn-in to be a Member of Parliament,” Mr Ayariga said.
He argued that Article 94 does not focus on eligibility to contest elections but on becoming a Member of Parliament.
“This only takes place at the point of swearing in,” he added.
Article 94 – Qualifications And Eligibility
2) A person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament if he—
(a) owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana; or
(b) has been adjudged or otherwise declared
(i) bankrupt under any law in force in Ghana and has not been discharged; or
(ii) to be of unsound mind or is detained as a criminal lunatic under any law in force in Ghana; or
(c) has been convicted—
(i) for high crime under this Constitution or high treason or treason or for an offence involving the security of the State, fraud, dishonesty or moral turpitude; or
(ii) for any other offence punishable by death or by a sentence of not less than ten years; or
(iii) for an offence relating to, or connected with election under a law in force in Ghana at any time; or
(d) has been found by the report of a commission or a committee of inquiry to be incompetent to hold public office or is a person in respect of whom a commission or committee of inquiry has found that while being a public officer he acquired assets unlawfully or defrauded the State or misused or abused his office, or willfully acted in a manner prejudicial to the interest of the State, and the findings have not been set aside on appeal or judicial review; or
(e) is under sentence of death or other sentence of imprisonment imposed on him by any court., or
(f) is not qualified to be registered as a voter under any law relating to public elections; or
(g) is otherwise disqualified by a law in force at the time of the coming into force of this Constitution, not being inconsistent with a provision of this Constitution.
(3) A person shall not be eligible to be a member of Parliament if he—
(a) is prohibited from standing election by a law in force in Ghana by reason of his holding or acting in an office the functions of which involve a responsibility for or are connected with the conduct of, an election or responsibility for the compilation or revision of an electoral register, or
(b) is a member of the Police Service, the Prisons Service, the Armed Forces, the Judicial Service, the Legal Service, the Civil Service, the Audit Service, the Parliamentary Service, the Statistical Service, the Fire Service, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, the Immigration Service, or the Internal Revenue Service; or
(c) is a chief.
Assin North by-election
The Electoral Commission has announced June 27, 2023 for the Assin North by-election.
Nominations will be received at the Assin North District Office of the Commission from Monday the 12th of June 2023 to Wednesday, the 14th of June, 2023 between the hours of 9:00am to 2:00pm to 5:00pm on each day.
The filing fee for the election is GHS10,000.00.
Ahead of the by-election, Mr Gyakye Quayson has announced his decision to contest for the seat once again.
According to the National Democratic Congress’ Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi the people of Assin North will vote for James Gyakye Quayson to ensure justice is served.
Criminal charges against James Gyakye Quayson
Meanwhile, Mr Quayson could face a decade-long prison sentence if he is found guilty of perjury and other criminal charges brought against him by the Office of the Attorney General.
The charges include deceiving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by falsely claiming he did not hold dual citizenship to obtain a Ghanaian passport.
Mr Quayson is facing five counts, including deceit of a public officer, forgery of a passport or travel certificate, making a false statutory statement, perjury, and false declaration of office.
Perjury, a second-degree felony, carries a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment, and the prosecution is determined to prove his guilt.
Upon the resumption of Parliament, the Minority declared its intention to submit an urgent question seeking clarification regarding the proposed divestment of Ghana’s stake in Jubilee Oil Holdings (JOHL) to the Petroleum Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA).
It has been alleged that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) under the Chairmanship of Mr Freddie Blay, is working on a transaction to relinquish about 50% of shares of JOHL to PetroSA.
Mr Blay has, however, denied any wrong doing.
Reacting to this claim, the Minority said apart from filing an urgent question for clarification of this saga, it is concerned with the manner in which the JOHL assets are being held and managed.
The Minority in a statement signed by its leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson claimed that the JOHL revenues are currently being used as “slush fund” to pursue all manner of business that has not been approved by Parliament under the usual GNPC budget approval process.
“The recent lodgment of $100 million of oil revenues in the accounts of JOHL which sparked concerns about the state being deprived of taxes accruing from these revenues leads credence to our concern,” the statement stated.
Even more troubling, according to the Minority, is the Energy Minister’s references in his letter to the Executive Secretary to the President, an attempt to try to refinance GNPC’s current debts by using JOHL’s asset to do so with LITASCO.
The Minority noted that it can presume that the intent is to forward sell JOHL’s production share to raise money.
To this end, they are calling on the Akufo-Addo-led government to transfer the shares held by JOHL to GNPC without delay, in order that Ghanaians can be assured that appropriate oversight is being exercised on these assets by parliament and other stakeholders.
This they say will ensure proper accountability and effective monitoring of the revenues accruing from the country’s petroleum resources.
The Minority Caucus in Parliament has made a request for the disclosure of the details regarding the judgement on James Gyakye Quayson, the former Assin North MP.
They have stipulated that these details must be made available by June 7th before they can proceed with voting on the president’s Chief Justice nominee, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
Following the Supreme Court Justice’s vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament, the Caucus refrained from casting a vote on the nominee.
Their decision was prompted by the absence of access to the complete judgement, which they believe is necessary to make an informed determination.
The Supreme Court in its recent ruling on the dual citizenship case before it directed Parliament to expunge the name of embattled Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson.
While the possibility of a second vetting session looms, the Committee’s chairman, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has announced that there will be no such session. However, the Minority Caucus remains resolute in their demand to review the entire judgement before reaching a conclusion.
The Minority Chief Whip in a press release indicated that the Minority expects the cooperation of the Majority in its request to bring closure to the vetting.
Below is the full release
The Minority Members on the Appointments Committee of Parliament did not vote on the President’s nominee for the position of Chief Justice today due to the unavailability of the reasoned judgement of the Supreme Court in the matter of Hon. James Gyakye Quayson
It is important to state that the Appointments Committee not long ago in 2019 vetted and approved this same nominee as a justice of the Supreme Court. However, it was imperative for Members of The Minority on the Committee to evaluate the decisions of the nominee on all other cases, including the James Gyakye Quayson case since the vetting in 2019.
We successfully evaluated the nominee on all relevant criteria except the outstanding matter of James Gyakye Quayson which would enable us to come to a decision. We expect the reasoned Judgement of the court on this matter by 7 June, 2023 to finalise our decision
We have duly communicated our challenge to our colleagues on the Majority side and expect their cooperation.
The Member of Parliament for Asawase, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak has blamed the defeat of 17 National Democratic Congress(NDC) Member of Parliament (MPs) on the leadership reshuffle done by the party in parliament.
According to Muntaka, the defeat of 17 MPs in the just-ended NDC primaries is a result of the reshuffling of party leadership. He expressed concerns about the impact this loss of experience regarding the new candidates will have on the minority caucus in the upcoming parliamentary sessions.
“Now in 2023, the NPP is struggling to find its feet. They are struggling to stay above waters, and then you go and lose 17 MPs. Who do you blame? It will be very unfair if you blame the current [Minority] leadership because the primaries were announced before the coup that happened in Parliament, [and that was] very unstrategic.”
“You can do any scientific research, and it would point to you that the timing of that coup was absolutely wrong. It didn’t give the new leadership the opportunity to settle and strategize to save many more MPs,” citinewsroom.com quoted him as saying in an interview.
Muntaka added that it would be unfair to hold the current minorityleadershipresponsible because the timing of the party primaries was announced before the unexpected changes took place in parliament.
He maintained that the timing of the parliamentary reshuffling was ill-advised, as it did not allow the new leadership enough time to settle and strategize effectively to secure more seats.
The NDC held its primaries on Saturday, May 13, 2023, which resulted in significant losses for several incumbent Members of Parliament.
Approximately 17 incumbents lost their seats to newcomers.
Paul Twum Barimah, the representative for Dormaa East, has refuted assertions made by the minority in parliament that the House’s Tuesday vote to approve loan agreements was not unanimous.
According to John Jinapor, the member of parliament for Yapei/Kusawgu, not all MPs approved the loans totaling roughly 750 million dollars.
He claimed that while the Minority Caucus fiercely opposed the loan agreements, the numbers did not support them, therefore it would be unfair to place the responsibility on them.
But in an interview with Citi News, the Dormaa East MP said such claims are unfounded.
“So far as we know we all support the loans. It was by voice vote, did you see anyone on his feet to question the loans? Nobody did that, not even their leadership nor any member and if you read the report it was a unanimous report.”
Parliament on Tuesday approved an amount of $150 million dollars for the financing of the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme phase 2 under the Multi-phase programmatic approach.
Parliament also approved an on-lending agreement between the government and the Development Bank Ghana for an amount of £170 million Euros to support the establishment of a financially sustainable development Bank.
The House also approved a loan agreement between the government of Ghana and the World Bank for an amount of $200 million to finance the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project.
A member of the Minority in Parliament, Alhassan Suhuyini, has alluded that some National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs were bribed by the government to approve its newly sworn in ministers.
Speaking on Pan African Television (Aljahi & Alhaji) over the weekend, the Tamale North MP indicated that an amount of GHS40,000 was all that was needed to turn the decisions of some members of the Minority.
He implied that the dire circumstances some MPs live in made them susceptible to bribes – a condition he does not affiliate with. Mr Suhuyini therefore stated that he would not be able to vouch for his colleagues with regards to being loyal.
“I know my colleagues. So if I use myself as a yardstick, I will be unfair. And I say that I can’t be tempted with money. But I know the situation that others live in. So when you give them a task at a time I know they can be tempted with money and I draw your attention to it, it is not because I can be tempted with money. So we need a strategy. Some people, GHC40,000 to raise that to file was such a big deal. Yes, it doesn’t excuse whatever they did. But that is judging them on your standard and not their standard,” he said.
The Tamale North MP noted that the betrayal could have been avoided should things have been put in their rightful places by the party leadership.
“It is condemnable, unacceptable that anybody in Parliament will sacrifice a party interest, National interest for that but people did. Could you have prevented it? I believe we could have a party, if we were honest and planned better,” he asserted.
On March 24, 2023, the Minority in Parliament came under intense criticism by the rank and file of the NDC.
The NDC MPs failed to uphold their word to reject the five individuals President Akufo-Addo had appointed to head a number of ministries.
Since then, it has been speculated that some MPs had been convinced by the government with a token. The exact MPs who were compromised have not been fished out since the incident.
The General Secretary of the NDC, Fiifii Kwetey, per reports, has however, provided an uncompleted list of loyal MPs who voted against the approval of then ministerial nominees.
So far, the identities of 46 loyal NDC MPs have reportedly been released by Mr Fiifi Kwetey via Whatsapp. It is believed that 39 MPs betrayed the party.
Kobla Mensah Wisdom Woyome (South Tongu MP), Gizella Akushika Tetteh-Agbotui (Awutu Senya West MP), Ernest Henry Norgbey (Ashaiman MP), Edward Abambire Bawa (Bongo MP), Yusif Sulemana (Bole Bamboi MP), Richard Kwame Sefe (Anlo MP) and Yao Gomado (Akan MP) are among those viewed as loyalists.
But the likes of former Minority leader and his ex-Chief Whip, Haruna Iddrisu and Muntaka Mubarak respectively, are yet to find their names on the list.
Following the incident, Mr Muntaka Mubarak spoke against the fact that Party interests were being pursued in Parliament rather than national interest.
“We are taking too many entrenched positions on both sides, those in government taking too much entrench position, those in opposition taking extreme positions and I can tell you this is not helpful to our country, it is not helpful to us.
“The better both sides begin to think that there is a national interest above the NPP interest and above the NDC we will be sinking our country,” the Asawase MP stated.
Meanwhile, Mr Alhassan Suhuyini has entreated the leadership of the NDC to effectively liaise with the leadership in Parliament and stop acting like “coaches” directing what should be done in the House.
“Party leaders are not chosen to manage Parliament. They are not chosen to be coaches of Parliament. They are chosen to run the party alongside Parliament. So when you have debates in Parliament and the Parliamentarians win that debate, you expect the national organisers and women organiser, Chair and secretary to be massing people up on the street to complement what Parliament is doing.
“But what we have are Executives sitting on the bench coaching Parliament and that will not take us to victory. I say this at the risk of sometimes being ostracized. But our party leaders must begin to wake up and understand that the 2024 election will not be won in Parliament,” he cautioned.
On the other hand, President Akufo-Addo on April 4, 2023, swore into office his five new ministerial appointees approved by Parliament..
Trade Minister KT Hammond and his deputy Dr Stephen Amoah, Bryan Acheampong, the Agric Minister, Chieftaincy Minister Stephen Asamoah Boateng, Dr Mohammed Amin Adams, Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Minister of Local Government, Osei Bonsu Amoah took their oath at the ceremony which took place at the Jubilee House.
In his speech, President Akufo-Addo urged the ministers to uphold the interest of Ghanaians as their appointment comes at a critical time in Ghana’s history.
He noted that there is “enough time to make a difference and make a significant contribution to the development of the country.”
Parliament is undertaking a secret ballot on the approval of ministerial nominees appointed by President Akufo-Addo.
The Appointments Committee in February vetted the nominees which include Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahiru Hammond, who is to head the Trade Ministry, Abetifi MP, Brian Acheampong, who has been appointed Minister-designate for Food and Agriculture.
MP for Karaga, Mohammed Amin Adam, has been appointed Minister of State at the Finance Ministry.
Nhyiaeso MP, Stephen Asamoah Boateng has been appointed Minister-designate for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs.
Mr Hebert Krapah, Deputy Minister at the Trade Ministry has been moved to the Energy Ministry as Deputy Minister-designate.
Dr Stephen Amoah is Deputy Minister-designate for Trade and Industry. MP for Akuapem South, Osei Bonsu Amoah, has been appointed Minister of State at the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry.
Meanwhile, the Minority have threatened to reject the approval of President Akufo-Addo’s appointees due to the size of his government.
Parliament is expected to be involved in a heated debate today although Speaker Alban Bagbin has warned against recalcitrant behaviour.
