Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, has refuted claims by the Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) commenced processes to construct a new headquarters under the John Mahama-led NDC government.
Mr Ahiagbah on Accra based Joy FM on Saturday, claimed that the bank, when Dr Forson was a Board Member, could not go ahead with the planned construction because it failed to secure a 20-acre land it had negotiated for US$2.5 million per acre for the project.
He said in the process, the bank incurred a US$1.2 million cost after it pulled out of the negotiation.
But in a statement issued on Saturday, the Minority Leader and MP for Ajumako/Enyan/
Essiam, who was a deputy minister of finance at the time said neither did the bank attempt securing land nor signed a contract to construct a new head office.
He said “for the records, the Bank of Ghana under the erstwhile Mahama/NDC administration never awarded a contract for the construction of this new Head Office.
“We therefore, challenge the likes of Ahiagbah and his NPP apologists to show evidence to the contrary if they have any.”
Dr Forson stressed that the BOG never purchased a land anywhere in Accra for the construction of a new Head Office building.
He said that the project was unnecessary and should be stopped with immediate effect.
Dr Forson said “we maintain that the decision by the current Bank of Ghana Management and Board to construct an ultra-modern Head Office building at a time that the Bank of Ghana has recorded a loss of GH¢60.8 billion and a negative equity of GH¢55.1 billion; at a time when the ordinary Ghanaian is struggling to make ends meet, is a reckless and misplaced priority.”
In his view, the falsehood being peddled by Mr Ahiagbah is to equalise and in the process obfuscate the mismanagement of the bank under the watch of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.
Dr Forson said “no attempt at equalisation can redeem the historical collapse and mismanagement of the Bank of Ghana by this Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government, alongside Governor Addison and his management.”
He said the count down on the NDC demand for the resignation of the Governor of the BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, and his two deputies, was unwavering.
The NDC at a press conference last Tuesday condemned the BoG for committing US$250 million to the project in the face of losses.
The NDC has given the Governor and his deputies 21 days to vacate their office or be forced out.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI