Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, has confirmed the termination of key Directors at the Development Bank Ghana (DBG) following what he described as a damning audit conducted by Deloitte.
The move marked a significant development in Ghana’s financial governance, one Simons says must be met with deeper institutional reform rather than cosmetic changes.
“It is critically important that the systemic and cultural change issues we uncovered are not now swept under the carpet after the government appoints new Directors”
Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa
Speaking candidly about the matter, Simons revealed that“the terms of reference for the Deloitte audit included an investigation of all the claims we made in our investigative reports,” insisting that the systemic and cultural failures exposed must not be ignored moving forward.
According to Simons, although the directors who have been removed may not be directly culpable, their failure to exert proper oversight contributed to the problems at DBG. “We insist, however, that they did not exercise sufficient oversight over management and the control system,” he said.
The revelations also put auditing firm KPMG under scrutiny. Simons raised serious concerns about the credibility of successive clean audits previously issued by KPMG to DBG, suggesting that an independent process review is now necessary.
He noted that when the previous board attempted to commission KPMG to carry out a value-for-money audit into IMANI’s concerns, the action was problematic due to what he described as a conflict of interest. He called for future audits to be handled by firms that are not the bank’s routine external auditors.
While the firing of the Directors was seen as a decisive step by the government, Simons insisted that this should only be the beginning. “The appointment of new Directors should, at any rate, involve new safeguards, substantive and procedural,” he said, suggesting that both structural reforms and ethical recalibrations are necessary.
Simons also reiterated the need for broader scrutiny beyond DBG.
“If the contractors we identified in our investigative reports have other business with other public entities, then there is a need for all such contracts to be probed by the right governmental entities assisted by unconflicted audit firms”
Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa
He further praised Ghanaian Directors who voluntarily stepped aside after recognizing governance lapses within the bank. For Simons, this is evidence that Ghana still has capable individuals ready to uphold high standards. He noted. “Reputation should count for something in Ghana.”
“By this action, the government has shown that it can be resolute. We hope that such responsiveness won’t be limited to problems that occurred under its predecessors”
Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa
He closed by urging civil society organisations (CSOs) to capitalise on what he described as a brief window of state responsiveness.
The Ministry of Finance and the Office of the President have yet to issue official statements confirming the changes at DBG or outlining plans for the incoming Board. However, the tone of Simons’ remarks suggests that momentum for greater accountability and governance reforms have gathered new steam.
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