President John Dramani Mahama has come under heavy fire from the minority in Parliament for permitting Dr. Johnson Asiamah, the acting governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), to have his criminal charges dropped.
In spite of Dr. Johnson Asiamah’s appointment, the Minority, led by Tano North MP Dr. Gideon Boako, insisted that the prosecution be permitted to continue during a press conference on Wednesday, February 5.
They maintained that dismissing the charges presents significant issues with accountability and governance.
The Minority claims that the decision to end the case could have political and economic repercussions.
“Political and economic risk analysts will not be kind to Ghana given that some global financial institutions may refuse to do business with Ghana due to the uncertainty over these charges being re-instated by a future Attorney-General. This will likely increase the cost of Ghana’s international transactions,” they warned.
The minority claimed that putting on hold the prosecution does not absolve Dr. Asiamah of any wrongdoing and that the charges could still be reinstated by a subsequent administration, which could erode trust in his choices as governor of the BoG.
The Minority also questioned how Dr. Asiamah’s stance would affect Ghana’s financial standing internationally.
“Dropping the charges does not mean he has been absolved of the crime”. These charges can be brought back under a different government, and what will become of the decisions he will make as Governor?” they asked.
They maintained that appointing a person with outstanding legal matters to head the central bank might lead to ambiguities in financial policy decisions and harm Ghana’s reputation internationally.
An MoU Signed By Ghana And Its Official Creditor Committee
The Minority consequently declared their intention to formally inform the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of their concerns.
They stated that since he will also serve as the Bank’s governor and a member of the IMF Board of Governors, they will be writing to the IMF to highlight this.
They emphasized that accountability and transparency must never be sacrificed, especially now that Ghana is participating in an IMF program and needs strong financial leadership.
