Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has reiterated that the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, must resign from his office for mismanagement.
In a tweet, he was baffled why the governor of the Central Bank has refused to disclose the cost of the land where the new headquarters is being built in Accra.
“Governor, Why is he embarrassed to publicly disclose the latest cost of his gravely insensitive, sleazy & majestic head office which is an astonishing US$ 222.79 million (excluding land cost)? Why is he refusing to resign?” Ablakwa tweeted.
The legislator in an earlier tweet on August 17 stated that the new BoG headquarters cost was “initially US$81.8million, suddenly escalating to US$121million & currently threatening to exceed US$250million.”
He has, therefore, called for the immediate suspension of the project.
Addressing the media on August 21, 2023, Dr Addison said that the Central Bank followed all procurement processes in the country and did not breach any law in purchasing the land for the new project.
He also explained that processes for the new head office commenced in the 1990s, discrediting arguments that the bank was investing in such a project at a time the country was in financial difficulties.
The Minority in Parliament at a press conference on August 8, disclosed the cost of the central bank’s new head office under construction.
Leader of the caucus, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, said the bank spending a whopping 250 million dollars to build a head office in the current economic crisis was untenable.
It has, thus, demanded the resignation of the BoG Governor and his two deputies for the GHS60 billion loss the bank incurred in 2022.
But the Governor explained that the losses were not occasioned by mismanagement but largely by the government through its initiatives like the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) and other factors.
Below is his tweet:
My response to the MisGovernor
— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) August 22, 2023
Why is he embarrassed to publicly disclose the latest cost of his gravely insensitive, sleazy & majestic head office which is an astonishing US$222.79million (excluding land cost)?
Why is he refusing to resign?#OccupyBoGProtest#AddisonMustGo pic.twitter.com/Gy85vYaE0F
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