Member of parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has expressed disappointment in the recorded losses by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), insisting that the GHC60.8 billion would have built some 3, 474 Agenda 111 hospitals in the country.

According to him, the government along with its managers have created a mess when it comes to the running of the country’s economy. He revealed that per a member on the health committee in Parlaiment’s remarks, at the rate of funding, the Agenda 111 hospitals will be completed in 22 years. This, he stated, could have been achieved earlier with the monies from BoG’s losses.

“… An Agenda 111 hospital is GHC17.5 million. The Bank of Ghana in 2022 alone, posted a loss of GHC60.8 billion. You know how many Agenda 111 hospital it can build? There’s one coming up in Ningo-Prampram and I’m worried because that project has stalled for over six months. That GHC60.8 billion would have built 3, 474 Agenda 111 hospitals… So, every district would have had an Agenda 111. That is the gravity and enormity of the mismanagement of Ernest the printer, Ken the saint and Bawumia the liar. They have created a mess and they boldly wear white and come to parliament and come and read this to us and tell us there’s nothing wrong with the country.”
Sam Nartey George

Mr George indicated that the activities by the Governor of BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, and his two deputies have exposed the dire state of the country. He noted that this paints a troubling picture of a government which declared its competence in developing the economy of the country.

“I remember when Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo introduced Bawumia to Ghanaians. He said ‘I brought him because Kufuor brought him to help us at the Bank of Ghana, he knows how to run the economy’ – he was sold to us as that. Then Bawumia came and said, ‘trust me I have worked at the Bank of Ghana, I know where the money is’. Now, one was made President and the other vice, and the one who said he had been at the Bank of Ghana and knew how to run the economy has now become head of economic management team…”
Sam Nartey George

Furthermore, Sam George highlighted government created another sub-committee of the economic management team called the economic policy team which was made up of three people – Mahamudu Bawumia, Ken Ofori-Atta and Ernest Addison. He lamented that the members who were entrusted with the economy of the country have been a disappointment to Ghanaians as they have failed to deliver on their word.

“So, you have Vice President, finance minister and Bank of Ghana Governor. The Bank of Ghana Governor is responsible for monetary policy, the finance minister is responsible for fiscal policy and the Vice President as head of the economic management team sits with both to ensure that we have synergy between both monetary and fiscal policy… This arrangement is the source of the collapse of Ghanaian businesses and hardships Ghanaians are facing today.”
Sam Nartey George

Implementing legislation to address financial losses

Elaborating on the Central Bank’s losses, the Ningo-Prampram legislator questioned why the Governor of the Bank of Ghana will stay at post after publishing such loss. He highlighted that although there are laws and legislations in place such as the Bank of Ghana Act which was amended by parliament and states that the “moment you hit the threshold of 5% of lending to government, the Bank of Ghana Governor must notify parliament”, it has been disregarded.

“You have posted a negative equity of GHC55.1 billion, we have gone to the IMF with all the conditionalites and debt defaults, we are going there for three billion over three years and in one year our Bank of Ghana can blow, mismanage and lose [GHC60 billion] – double what we are going to get in three years from the IMF…

“There’s legislation for this, it’s not as if we are working in a vacuum. I’ve heard people say we need to strengthen the legislation, but we don’t need to strengthen the legislation, we just need people who will behave as patriots and appreciate and respect legislation in this country…”
Sam Nartey George

Moreover, Sam George emphasized that the Governor of the Bank seems not to understand that his role is to supervise Ghana’s banking sector and ensure that the national reserves are sufficient enough to protect Ghanaians in time of despair and also ensure that the country has a healthy banking system.

Rather, he revealed that the Governor “sees himself as a printer because the Governor of the Bank of Ghana prints more money than the printers at New Town print calendars”.