The Minority in Parliament has served notice of a public protest scheduled for July 30th, to renew its demand for the resignation of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, his deputies, and the board members.
The protest, according to the Caucus, is aimed at addressing the ‘wasteful spending’ and ‘financial mismanagement’ by the central bank’s leadership.
The demonstration will commence at 8:00 am at Obra Spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, proceeding through Adabraka to Farisco/Kingsway, passing by Rawlings Park in front of Makola, and concluding at the Bank of Ghana headquarters. The protest is expected to last until 6:00 PM.
In a notification letter to the Police Service and signed by Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga, the Minority underscored several issues, including the escalating cost of the Bank of Ghana’s new corporate headquarters.
Initially estimated at $81,882,640, the cost has reportedly ballooned to over $270 million. Additionally, the construction of a new house for the Governor, rumored to cost $40 million, has sparked outrage due to a lack of transparency regarding its actual cost.
“The Governor and his team continue wasteful capital expenditure on projects across the country despite the fact of the insolvency of the bank, something that remains unprecedented in the history of Ghana,” he said.
The Minority accused Dr. Addison and his team of causing the insolvency of the Bank of Ghana and failing to perform its role as the banker of last resort.
The governor, the Caucus said, has requested government recapitalization, which can only be achieved through additional borrowing or taxation.
“Governor Addison and his team supervised the collapse of the banking sector, resulting in the closure of banks and aggravating the worsening unemployment situation.”
“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.”
The letter also details the adverse economic impact of the Bank of Ghana’s policies, including the printing and injection of over GH₵80 billion into the economy, leading to inflation rates exceeding 50% at one point.
“This inflation has significantly eroded the purchasing power of 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,” the letter states. “Governor Addison has acted illegally in printing money for the government without recourse to Parliament and similarly wrote off about GH₵48.4 billion of government debt,” the letter said.
The Minority insisted that mass public action is necessary to address the corruption and mismanagement plaguing the central bank and other governance institutions following the lack of response from anti-corruption institutions.
“We are resuming public protests because we have reported these matters to anti-corruption institutions and they remain non-responsive. We count on you to carry out the necessary security arrangements to ensure an incident-free public protest,” the letter said.