Former Ghanaian President, Mahama hits Akufo-Addo on failed banks
The recent banking crisis that resulted in the collapse of several indigenous financial institutions in Ghana has continued to worry nationalists.
Recall that some banks in Ghana recently went under following a recapitalization deadline they could not meet, thus creating a scenario that saw the deposits of many Ghanaians’ trapped till today with little or no hope of recovery.
Speaking with select journalists including Business Hilights Ghana Bureau chief in Accra, the nation’s capital, former President John Dramani Mahama said the current administration is deceiving depositors’ whose monies were eroded away in the collapse of some banks recently.
Mahama is seeking a comeback as President in the November 2020 election having lost to the incumbent in 2016. The incombent, Nana Akuo-Addo is also seeking second term in the November election.
In his lead argument, Mahama queried “How can they pay all depositors in full, when that was not catered for in the budget delivered by Mr Ken Ofori Atta, Minister of Finance in the last fiscal budget? Government is being clever in saying they will pay all depositors, after all there were no timelines given.”
While challenging the government to give Ghanaians a clear timeline on when depositors would receive their monies, pointed out that the collapse of the banks had dented the investment image of Ghana, especially in the faces of credible foreign investors.
On how to stabilise the banks, he revealed that part of his banking reforms which was dumped by the current administration was to categorise the financial services sector into three just like the way Nigeria did it.
He said “My administration wouldn’t have collapsed those banks at ago, but would have placed them in Tier A, Tier B and Tier C according to their financial strengths, rather than giving the same standards for all the banks.”
Giving insights on the recent introduction of higher cedi denominations including 100 and 200 Cedis, the former President averred that the policy is counterproductive to the ongoing cashless policy being driven by the same administration.
He noted that to the extent of the counter productiveness of the higher denomination policy, it would encourage more people to transact their businesses with cash instead of cheques, transfers and use of banking Apps.
According to him, “Printing of higher notes means people can pocket huge sums of monies for transactions, instead of the now preferred cashless system we are preaching.”
John Darmani Mahama observed that “The depreciation of the cedi was common knowledge that did not need a committee to deliberate on as even level 100 University students could give solutions to the cause of the depreciation of the currency.
“We all know that we are not exporting, we are rather so dependent on imports and the basic solution is to export more and import less,” the former President, who was in Nigeria last year to present a paper on economic development at RealNews Media seminar, added.
