Re - Crisis Rock Cal Bank
In 2004, Mr. Afare Apeadu Donkor sought a declaration from the court of law on the legality of the Bank of Ghana's actions in 1996, when they purported to disqualify him from acting as a director of any financial institution.
The Court ruled in March 2006 that the Bank of Ghana's actions were illegal and that the court deemed Mr. Donkor a fit and proper person to serve on any financial institution. (AFARI DONKOR v BANK OF GHANA [21/03/2006] SUIT NO: AP9/2006)
In 2007, Mr. Donkor sought to get a seat on the Board of Directors of Cal Bank. He was then informed that the company's regulations made specific mention of the fact that the acquisition of a substantial shareholding did not entitle a shareholder to a seat on the Board of Directors.
To his surprise, he was further informed by Cal Bank that the Bank of Ghana had appealed the 2006 decision of the High Court referred to above without notice to him or his solicitors.
Till date, the Bank of Ghana has made no effort to proceed with the appeal. In effect, the decision referred to above is valid and binding on the parties.
In fact, as his Lordship Justice Victor Offoe, rightly stated in the case referred to above, the Bank of Ghana “…had no power to direct, as it did, the Board of Directors of CAL Merchant Bank, to remove the applicant. Indeed it went beyond its powers.
It further has or had no power to conclude that it finds the applicant no longer acceptable to the Central Bank as a Director of any financial institution.
I will declare any purported act intended to disqualify the applicant as wrongful and therefore void. For the avoidance of doubt the applicant I find still qualified to serve as a Director of a Bank or any Financial Institution or any other body corporate.”
From the foregoing, the facts as stated in the Thursday 15th May 2008 edition of the are inaccurate.
The Central Bank did not reverse the decision of Mr. Donkor being barred from sitting on the board of any financial institution and neither was the matter settled out of court as stated in the above mentioned issue of the .
A summary of the reasons for calling this EGM have been lodged with Cal Bank and will be subsequently circulated to shareholders and published in the newspapers before the EGM.