Is BoG Becoming A Nuisance?

The Bank of Ghana (BoG), sole regulator of financial institutions in the country is fast becoming a ‘terminator’ in the eyes of millions of Ghanaians.

The ‘Isakaba’ posture being adopted by the bank under its current governor, Ernest Addison, is sending very negative signals to the very people it was established to work for, and whoever is advising or ‘pushing’ him to adopt this posture is not doing the country any good.

First was the GH¢400 million ($88.5 million) minimum capital requirement slapped on all banks in the country, and the recalcitrant stance to heed good advice that the decision could collapse local banks and make Ghanaians mere spectators of the mainstream financial sector instead of major participants.

Second, was the inability of the governor to perceive that the collapse of UT Bank and Capital Bank was a collective national failure, including BoG itself.

For whatever reason it may, the collapse of the two indigenous banks had become a setback to the effort of encouraging indigenous Ghanaians to take control of our economy by building strong local institutions, but BoG would not see reason in that argument.

Then ten days ago, Ghanaians woke up to hear the collapse of five more local banks by BoG, namely UniBank Ghana Limited, The Royal Bank Limited, Beige Bank Limited, Sovereign Bank Limited, and Construction Bank Limited.

In fact, so worrying was the development that knowledgeable people like Prof. Godfred Bopkin, Head of the Finance Department at the University of Ghana Business School, had opined that it would be strange for the Central Bank to say it knew nothing about the operations of the banks before now.
Others have noted that, as is standard nationalistic practice everywhere, Ghana, and for that matter BoG, should favour her local companies over foreign ones.

Then came the third shocker, the ‘fracas’ with Menzgold, which many view as a personal clash of ego between the BoG governor and the Nana Appiah Mensah, CEO of Menzgold over a tweeter comment.
“TODAY’S JOKE: Bank of Ghana, so now you dey do propaganda? I beg paa “Tell Ghanaians exactly what happened with the 5 or so collapsed banks you duly LICENSED & SUPERVISED for years. Please don’t attempt to use our dear Menzgold to cover up. I beg make we think!”, he tweeted.

He went on: “BoG is not my regulator. Get your facts right. I do not operate under Act 930. Therefore BoG does not have jurisdiction over my business plus the baseless allegations. We had a year-long meeting with the central bank and resolved, that should have been the end of the matter”.

Interestingly, not long after the tweet, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), which had been silent all these months, suddenly invited the Menzgold boss for questioning. The Precious Mineral Marketing Company (PMMC) also jumped into the fray, that Menzgold did not have license to buy or sell gold. What a shame?

THE PUBLISHER is scandalized that, having slept on the job for all these years, authorities at the BoG have now found it convenient to use its hatchet.

The paper is of the view that, for all the good reasons it might have, adopting a ‘Collapsor-In-Chief’ posture to correct ills it had virtually overseen may not be the best.
Doing the right thing in a wrong manner, they say, is as bad as doing the wrong thing.