When Will the Customers Be Paid? A Call to President Mahama and the Finance Minister

As Ghana continues to grapple with the aftermath of the banking sector clean-up, thousands of affected customers are still waiting for answers—and more importantly, for their locked-up funds. The clean-up, which began in 2017 under the NPP administration, led to the collapse of several banks and financial institutions, including indigenous ones like GN Bank and UT Bank. While the government claimed the move was necessary to protect depositors and stabilize the financial sector, the human and economic toll has been significant.

President John Dramani Mahama, then flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), was vocal in his criticism of the clean-up exercise. He described it as “hasty” and politically motivated, questioning why a problem that could have been solved with GH¢4 billion ended up costing the taxpayer GH¢25 billion. Mahama pledged to restore the licenses of institutions he believes were unjustly closed and to revisit the processes that led to their collapse.

However, while these promises offered hope, they did not address the immediate concerns of the thousands of customers who are still waiting for their funds. Many of them received partial payments—up to GH¢50,000 in 2020—but those with larger investments remain unpaid. The silence from the current Finance Ministry on a clear timeline for full restitution is deafening.

This raises a pressing question: When will the affected customers be fully paid?

President Mahama, if your commitment to justice and economic fairness is genuine, the people deserve a concrete plan as quick as possible. And to the Finance Minister, transparency and accountability are owed to the citizens whose lives have been disrupted by this financial crisis.

The time for political rhetoric is over. What affected Ghanaians need now is action, clarity, and a firm commitment to righting the wrongs of the past NPP administration.

By Ariel Sillim