uniBank collapse was very painful, big blow – Kwabena Duffuor

Founder of now-defunct uniBank, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, has opened up about his struggles with the revocation of his bank’s license some years back.

“It was a big blow but I was lucky and the family was behind me. [It was a] very painful experience but I understood it,” he said on Citi TV’s Point of View.

Dr. Duffuor, a former Finance Minister and a one-time Governor of the Bank of Ghana, indicated that although some of his businesses were affected by the revocation, others managed to thrive in the midst of the challenge.

“Some of them were affected by the uniBank issue but some of them are doing well.”

uniBank’s license was revoked during the banking sector clean-up which commenced in 2017 after the apex bank had explained that the financial institution was significantly undercapitalized.

Dr Duffuor, who is currently in court challenging the revocation expressed the hope that a favorable outcome will come out of the ruling.

“It is in court… What I know is that we will pursue the case and a solution will come out of it soon.”

The Bank of Ghana had claimed that shareholders of uniBank used monies from the bank to acquire estate properties in their own names.

According to the central bank, “uniBank's shareholders and related parties admitted to acquiring real estate properties in their own names using the funds from the bank under questionable circumstances.”

uniBank was merged with four other banks to form the Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited.

Dr. Duffuor is currently litigating the collapse of his bank with the hope of getting the court to declare that, merging his bank with others to form the Consolidated bank is null and void.

—citinewsroom