Mahama Ayariga: Bawku Central MP Formally Notifies Police About July 30 Demo Against BoG Governor

The Member of Parliament for Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga has formally notified the Police about an upcoming demonstration against the Governor of the Bank of Ghana.

In his letter dated July 5, 2024, Mr. Ayariga announced that the protest march aims to demand the resignation of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, his deputies, and the board members of the Bank of Ghana. The demonstration is scheduled for Tuesday, July 30, 2024, from 8 AM to 6 PM in Accra, Greater Accra Region.

According to the letter, protesters will march from Obra Spot through Adabraka to Farisco/Kingsway. The route will include Rawlings Park in front of Makola, Central Post Office, and will terminate at the frontage of the Bank of Ghana headquarters.

Mr. Ayariga criticized the Governor and his board for wasteful spending on the new Bank of Ghana Corporate head office building. He said that the cost of the project cost has ballooned to over $270 million from its original estimate of approximately $82 million.

“The Governor of the Central Bank and his board continue to engage in wasteful spending on the new Bank of Ghana Corporate head office building and refuse to answer questions on the latest cost of the building which, we are told, has now further escalated to over Two Hundred and Seventy Million United States Dollars (USD$270 million) from its original estimated cost of USD81,882,640.00.”

“The Governor again has embarked on the construction of a new house for the Governor himself at a speculated cost of Forty Million United States Dollars (USD$40million) and has refused to disclose to us the actual cost when the Minority wrote to him requesting the information on the cost of the Governor’s house under construction.”

“The Governor and his team continue wasteful capital expenditure on projects across the country in spite of the fact of the insolvency of the bank, something that remains unprecedented in the history of Ghana. The Governor and his team have caused the bank to be insolvent and thus incapable of performing its role as a banker of last resort.
Admitting that the BoG is now insolvent, the Governor has requested the Government of Ghana to recapitalize it and this can only be done through additional borrowing or taxation. He now seeks to burden the ordinary Ghanaian with his incompetence, maladministration, wastefulness, and corruption without being held accountable,” portions of the letter stated.

Mr Ayariga also attributed the collapse of the banking sector and the ensuing unemployment crisis to the Governor’s mismanagement.

“The existing banks have suffered capital impairment and so our domestic indigenous banks are not able to lend to the private sector to sustain industry and employment. Many companies are folding up due to the reckless and illegal conducts of the present BoG management.”

“The Governor printed and injected into the economy over Eighty Billion Ghana Cedis (Ghc80billion) and this caused inflation which went, at one point, to as high as above 50% and eroded the purchasing power of most workers and pushed over one million Ghanaians into extreme poverty. Inflation remains a major problem due to the incompetence of Governor Addison and his team. Governor Addison has acted illegally in printing money for the government without recourse to Parliament and similarly wrote off about Ghc48.4 billion of government debt. After the BoG recorded a colossal loss of over Ghc60.8 billion and negative equity of over Ghc55 billion we concluded that the bank has become insolvent. This is now confirmed by the BOG request for recapitalization by the Central Government.”

Source:newsalertgh.com