[ 2016-03-14 ]

BoG governor to resign?
Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Dr Henry Kofi
Wampah is likely to exit from the bank soon as
pressure mounts on him to do so. Dr Henry Kofi
Wampah for some time now has been criticized over
his approach in managing a number of issues in the
sector he regulates.
Top among them is the management of the
country’s currency the cedi as well as the
microfinance sector.

But the recent arrest of David McDermott, an
alleged drug baron, who is married to his step
daughter is further increasing pressure for him to
bow out.

Calls for his resignation

MPs recently called for his head following the DKM
microfinance and God is Love fraud saga.

Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Matthew
Opoku Prempeh for example early this month
insisted that Dr Henry Kofi Wampah steps down as
he believes the central bank has failed in
supervising the microfinance sector.

Matthew Opoku Prempeh who made the call when Dr.
Henry Kofi Wampah addressed MPs on recent
developments in the microfinance sector said ‘as
honorable members of this house who passed the
Bank of Ghana act, these Micro Finance companies
come under the direct supervision of Bank of
Ghana.

Unfortunately, lack of effective supervision on
the part of the central bank has resulted in these
cases. You cannot fire the governor of the Bank of
Ghana, He has to step down.’’

President loses confidence in him?

The president John Mahama in his state of the
nation address recently also hit hard at Dr Wampah
for failing to manage the microfinance sector
leading to its troubles.

‘‘Lack of effective supervision on the part of
the central bank has resulted in many cases in
which microfinance companies licensed by the bank
of Ghana have breached rules of procedure that
they were suppose to follow and have created
pyramid schemes that eventually came down one such
case is DKM. DKM with the super high interest of
between 50% and 55% promised to depositors is
believed to have caused a loss to its clients to
the tune of 77 million Ghana cedis. Mr. Speaker
many depositors have lost their life savings and
their livelihoods’.

MPs during the speech had called on the president
to fire Dr Wampah however per the new rules passed
by the house recently the governor cannot be
sacked.

But perhaps what will be pushing the governor out
of office is the arrest of an alleged British drug
lord, said to be hiding from UK security
authorities for years, in Ghana.

David McDermott who has been on the run for about
three years is married to Ramona Wampah, the step
daughter of Dr Henry Kofi Wampah.

Dr Henry Kofi Wampah yesterday denied knowledge of
his son in law’s dealings after confirming that
Ramona Wampah was indeed his step daughter.

A statement signed by him on March 13, 2016 and
copied to Citi Business News said ‘until I
received information about his arrest, I had
absolutely no knowledge about David being a
fugitive of the British government’.

According to Dr Wampah he knew David to be a
worker in the mining industry and was shocked
about his arrest.

‘I have received news about the arrest of David
McDermott, who is married to my step daughter,
Ramona, with shock.

David has been known to me as a worker in the
mining sector and has been living in the country
with Ramona since their marriage some three years
ago’. He said.

Climbing to the top

Dr Wampah who holds a Masters Degree and a Ph.D in
Economics from McGill University, Montreal CANADA,
rose through the ranks to become the boss of the
central bank in 2013.

He was confirmed as governor of the central bank
in 2013.

A year earlier he had acted as governor after his
immediate boss Kwesi Amissah-Arthur was confirmed
by Parliament as Vice President of Ghana.

Before he took up that position he was chosen as
first deputy governor of the central bank of Ghana
in April 2009 replacing Dr. Mahammudu Bawumia who
resigned from the position in mid-January 2009
after an unsuccessful vice presidential ambition
with the opposition New Patriotic Party.

Dr Henry Wampah had worked as the Head of the
Research Department of the bank from February 1996
to February 2001.

He also worked with the International Monetary
Fund (IMF).

Lost grip?

Dr Wampah begun losing his popularity in February
2014 after he introduced a number of forex rules
and policies to save the cedi from further
depreciation.

He was heavily criticized for the move.

The cedi took a nose dive against major trading
currencies in 2014 and was tagged one of the worst
on the African continent.

The central bank in bid to shore up the value of
the cedi at the time banned the withdrawals of
more than US$10,000 without proof of travel over
the counter.

It also banned commercial banks and other
financial houses from issuing cheques and cheque
books on foreign exchange accounts (FEA) and
foreign currency accounts (FCA).

It also directed that banks in the country should
not grant a foreign currency-denominated loan or
foreign currency-linked facility to a customer who
is not a foreign exchange earner.

But a few months later the central bank announced
it was withdrawing the rules following
consultations with stakeholders.

Last year economist and former Deputy Governor of
the Bank of Ghana Dr. Mamadu Bawumia attributed
the continuous depreciation of the cedi over the
last few years, to bad policies introduced by the
Bank of Ghana.

“On the exchange rate, the Ghana cedi has
recently obtained the dubious distinction of being
one of the worst currencies in the world as a
result of weak fundamentals and some misguided
policies by the Central Bank.” He said.

Last year the industry was hit with the DKM
microfinance and God is Love Fun Club fraud saga
where owners of the two institutions after
promising depositors high interests on their
investments were unable to pay them their locked
up cash.

A number of depositors in some case took their
lives having realized they had lost their
investments while others have lost their
livelihoods due to the matter.

The Governor recently announced however that the
BoG had begun the liquidation process to give back
depositors their cash.

Time to bow out?

Reports trickling in suggest the governor may bow
out soon due to mounting pressure.

It is unclear however exactly when that will be.

Citi Business News has learnt that Dr Henry Wapah
was expected to leave the bank this June following
mounting pressure for him to resign over
developments in the industry.

He was expected to take his accumulated leave in
June this year and move on from there.

One of the players in the industry who wished to
remain anonymous reacting to the development said
‘ this is a sad ending for Dr Wampah, he had
challenges on the job but he was a decent guy and
it’s unfortunate this scandal may push him out.

If Dr Wampah indeed steps down he will be replaced
by his immediate deputy Millison Narh, the first
deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana, till a
substantive choice is made.

Source - citifmonline.com

... go Back