Akufo-Addo Initiates Ethics Office To Probe BoG Officials Following Bank Collapse

Government has set up the office of ethics and internal investigations to interrogate the roles of persons at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) who may have contributed to the collapse of seven banks.

Information Minister designate Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the office will also look at the systems at the BoG and proffer a more robust solution to the problems currently facing the banking sector.

At least seven banks have gone under in the last year following several breaches in corporate governance practices.

Sovereign Bank, The Royal Bank, Construction Bank, Beige Bank, uniBank, UT Bank and Capital Bank have all lost their licenses as a result of the breaches.

Apart from the UT and Capital Banks whose assets were taken over by the Ghana Commercial Bank, the five other banks have been collapsed and merged into one Consolidated Ghana Bank.

The repercussion of the collapse of these banks to the financial sector has been dire.

Government has had to cough out over ¢ 7 billion in a desperate attempt to rescue the sector from total collapse.

There have been calls for the government to prosecute persons whose actions and inactions may have led to the collapse of the banks.

Board members and Directors of the defunct banks have become subjects of criminal investigations.

However, there are indications officials of the Bank of Ghana may also have played a role in the mess.

Several independent reports have largely blamed the BoG for failing in its supervisory roles.

Other reports have also suggested some level of complicity in the supposed criminal activities by the bank owners and shareholders.

Addressing a press conference in Accra Wednesday, Information Minister designate Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said officials at the BoG are under investigation.

“An office of ethics and internal investigations has been set up at the Bank of Ghana to commence a first line of interrogation of their own systems and procedures and persons who may have been culpable in this exercise,” he revealed.

He said persons found to be culpable “will be dealt with.