OccupyBoG: Bank Of Ghana Governor Ernest Addison Compares Protesting NDC MPs To Hooligans

• BoG Governor Dr Ernest Addison has responded forcefully to the recently held OccupyBoG demonstration
• According to him, MPs who took part in the protests behaved like hooligans because there were better ways they could have dealt with their concerns
• He also stated that the call for him to step down as central bank Governor is untenable because that is not happening
• Founding president of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Franklin Cudjoe, has told YEN.com.gh that calls for Dr Addison's resignation must be louder

Bank of Ghana Governor Dr Ernest Addison has responded to the well-attended OccupyBoG demonstration held recently, comparing MPs who took part in the protest to hooligans.

“The Minority in parliament have many channels to channel their grievances in civilised societies, not through demonstrations in the streets as hooligans,” Addison hit back at calls for him to resign.

Read also

Ghana given conditions to secure more bailout cash following staff-level agreement with IMF

The street protest on Tuesday, October 3, 2023, was organised by the main opposition NDC, with support from other political and civil society organisations.

The protest, among other things, called for the resignation of Dr Addison and his deputies for poor monetary policy decisions, huge losses recorded by the central bank in 2022 and plans to build a new headquarters that cost millions of cedis.

But in a sharp rebuttal to the successful demonstration that was dubbed OccupyBoG, Dr Addison told an international business website, Central Banking, that he is not stepping down.

He also described the demonstration as “completely unnecessary.”

The central bank Governor, who was not in the country during the demonstration, told Central Banking that the claim by Minority MPs that he printed money to finance the lavish lifestyle of the ruling government was false.

Read also

Ablakwa fires warning at BoG boss, demands apology for hooligan insult

He explained that what the BoG did was provide monetary financing between 2020 and 2022 to meet specific crises, stressing the BoG's decisions are consistent with the central bank law.

In 2022, the central bank posted a loss of GH¢60.81. Although unprecedented, the Bank of Ghana explained that it was the result of the government’s domestic debt restructuring activities and the depreciation of the cedi, among others.

Regarding the new HQ, project for the central bank, Addison said the project started in 2019, “when the bank was profitable".

He said some of BoG's profits were appropriated for the project in 2019, and that the decision was not taken during a crisis as has been alleged by the MPs.

But in an exclusive interview with YEN.com.gh, the founding president of reputable think tank, IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Franklin Cudjoe, said Dr Addison's reponse was unfortunate.

Read also

Akufo-Addo gov't reportedly struggling to convince IMF for 2nd part of bailout cash

"I don't think it was well within his right to call people who took part in the demonstrators hooligans. That was below, below the belt," he said.

He added:

"He [Dr Addison] is rather quite uncivilised to even suggest something like that. It is only an uncivilised person who thinks that the Minority in Parliament, and indeed anybody at all, within a democratic society, must necessarily use a particular channel to express their views. It is quite silly," Cudjoe said.

Prof Steve Hanke turns his criticism on Addison

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported in a related story that US-based Economist Prof Steve Hanke has slammed Dr Ernest Addison for creating challenges in Ghana's economy with his monetary policy decisions.

He made the comment via a post on X, formerly Twitter, when thousands of Ghanaians stormed the streets of Accra for the OccupyBoG demonstrations.

Source: YEN.com.gh