Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has described as misplaced, the call by the minority caucus, for the resignation of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison and his two deputies following the loss of GH¢60.8 billion at the central bank.
Following the loss of GH¢60.8 billion incurred by the bank in 2022 with a negative equity of GH¢55.1 billion, the minority caucus led by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson held a news conference during which it accused Dr Addison of mismanagement and recklessness.
Even though the BoG explained it lost the money through its support for government to restructure its debt levels and stabilise the Ghanaian economy, the minority group threatened to storm the central bank to chase out the BoG Governor if he did not resign within 21 days.
However, speaking on the issue, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu dismissed the call, admonishing the minority against making “everything about NPP and NDC”.
The Majority Leader who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame told Oman FM that “Ato Forson should have known better because he has held the position of deputy minister of finance before and knows the operations of the Bank of Ghana. So, if you politicise issues of the BoG, it is not good for the country.”
According to the majority leader who doubles as the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, “There is no law that mandates the BoG to report its daily activities to parliament”.
He added that “The law only mandates the BoG to report foreign exchange receipts to parliament and the BoG has always complied to this provision”.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu insisted that the central bank “does not report directly to parliament.”
The Constitution, he argued, “says that if you pass any law that is inconsistent with the Constitution, that law is null and void,” pointing out “It’s either the minority are over exaggerating issues or have not had time to examine the facts of the matter”.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the “response from the BoG addresses all the inconsistencies and falsehoods peddled against the institution.”
“Yes, the country went through some difficulties which required that the BoG must intervene…If not the international reserves built by the BoG, which was close to GH¢10 billion, we would have really suffered.
“The BoG supported the country with about GH¢4 billion out of its GH¢10 billion international reserves to support the situation,” the Majority Leader explained.
According to him, “Sri Lanka found itself in the same economic situation but because its central bank was not in a position to support, their situation got worse and have still not been able to recover.
“If the BoG supports the country to recover, it is unfair to call for the head of the governor because they made losses.”
New office for BoG
The Majority Leader said the BoG was in Parliament to explained why it is building a new head office.
“The West African Monetary Zone has been relocated to Ghana and it operates within the precincts of BoG but that has not been possible because of the limited space at the BoG. So, the building of the new head office is expected to address this as well.
“Also, the countries in West Africa have thrown their weight behind Ghana to host the headquarters of the secretariat to deal with the agenda towards a single currency.
“So, the building of the new head office is also expected to help in this direction”, Mr. Kyei-Mensah Bonsu explained further.
