The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said that the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison’s poor management and reckless decisions in the financial sector is partly to blame for the country’s economic challenges.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, the Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, made several references to the Bank of Ghana’s Annual Report which revealed how huge sums of money have been wasted on what he said were frivolous administrative expenditures.
According to him, the recklessness and incompetence of the Governor who allegedly conspired with Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has cost the country a huge financial burden.
“The Governor has messed us up big time, he has imposed an illegal inflation tax on the people, inflation is a tax and its an illegal tax because it does not have legislation.
“That is why today when you go to the market, things that you used to buy at one cedi, the next day you go in and you’re buying it at five cedis. Clearly, this takes away your disposable income.
“This is how the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Ernest Addison, who is now known as the ‘Printer of Money’, conspired with members of the economic mismanagement team led by the failed Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia and the inept Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta aka ‘One Problem, One Bond’, to destroy Ghana’s Central Bank.”
Quoting the BoG report which was released last week, Dr Forson said the BoG has cost the Ghanaian taxpayer an amount of about GH₵97.4 million on foreign and domestic travels, which is about a 246% increase over the previous year.
Dr Forson also stated that the Bank claimed to have spent an amount of GH₵357.9 million on Banking Supervision Expenses and other undisclosed expenses which amounted to GH₵287.8 million, along with another $250 million towards the construction of another head office near Ridge, Accra.
“Perhaps, the more troubling fact is that, having brought the Bank of Ghana to this terrible financial state, the Governor and his deputies, have found it prudent and expedient to invest $250 million (GHC2.8 billion) on another Head Office building somewhere at Ridge.
“In our circumstances, this is the height of insensitivity in the management of the finances of a troubled country,” he lamented.
The NDC has also accused the Central Bank of printing money illegally, which the party says is responsible for the depletion of Ghana’s external reserves.
“This resulted in the unprecedented depreciation of the Cedi, the main cause of hyperinflation in 2022 resulting in the 850,000 people who were reported to have been pushed down the poverty line,” the Minority Leader stated.
The NDC has asked the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison and his deputies to resign within 21 days.
The party says it will rally Ghanaians to picket the Central Bank if the governor does not resign within the given time.