FORMER BANK OF GHANA GOVERNOR’S “FORCED RESIGNATION” COST GHANA MILLIONS OF DOLLARS…

The Bank of Ghana Act – 2002 (Act 612) Sect 17 clearly states stipulated procedure for appointing Governor and Deputy Governors. Section 1 (b) The Governor is appointed by the President acting in consultation with the Council of State.

Article 183 (4d) states that “he ( Governor) shall not be removed from office except on the same ground and in the same manner as a justice of the superior court of jurisdiction, other than the Chief Justice, may be removed. Prior to the resignation of the former Governor Dr Nashiru Issahaku,I published and article about an orchestrated move to force him out of office. Dr Akoto Osei openly expressed his government’s unwillingness to work with the Governor who was seen and described as pro- NDC person.

He asked the Governor to resign or be forced to resign. Few days after his statement, Dr Bawumia and other powerful persons in the current administration started mounting undue pressure on the Governor to resign and several meetings were held inside the residence of the Vice-President to that effect. A juicy deal was reached between the Governor and and the administration which culminated in the voluntary resignation of the Governor. Our constitution is clear on the four year term of a governor of the Central Bank. Government had to enter into a juicy deal with the former Governor to avoid possible apprehension. Mr Sam Okudzeto and other renowned Ghanaians kicked vehemently against the move but Government went ahead to remove the Governor.

I also hinted in my article that Government was going to offer the Governor a juicy deal to avoid friction and apprehension. Reliable information gathered from my source who leaked the pre- resignation information to me is that the nation is lost millions of dollars as a result of the transaction. The man’s salary for the four years calculated with projections and other factors were released to him and will operate as casual consultant for the Ministry.

The state had to enter into financial arrangements and settlement to enable the current Governor gets a release to replace the resigned Governor. Government is likely to appear before Chraj to answer questions about the arrangement and the cost involved. The law on wilfully causing financial loss seeks to ensure that public officials when they are taking decisions, or when they are transacting public business, will make sure that they exercise due diligence to avoid unnecessary losses to the country. Ghana lost millions of dollars from this arrangement. Government is expected to answer why it should pay four year salary to someone will technically not work for the state, why it forced out the Governor whose tenure was fully guaranteed by the constitution.

Our source also disclosed that the current Governor of Bank of Ghana acted as one of the facilitators in Government’s initial arrangement in the bond deal with Franklin Templeton when the former Governor was in office. This confirms claims that the former Governor was removed to pave way for the bond deal and other clandestine deals.