"There's no law that puts Bank of Ghana above parliament” - Kofi Bentil

One of the people who have disagreed with the Bank of Ghana’s posturing is Senior Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil.

He has urged the Central Bank to subject itself to the Parliamentary probe into the withdrawal of the banking licenses of the two aforementioned financial institutions.

Mr. Bentil said that the approach used by the Bank of Ghana to ‘clean up’ the banking sector has caused more harm than good, hence financial sector regulator must answer lingering questions.

“What happened has not gone along the lines of what we were told. Clearly, we have not benefitted from the nuclear approach of blowing up these banks and the loss of businesses and jobs associated with it.

“I think nobody should be stopped from speaking up, the issues that are being brought up by Duffuor and others must be listened to and the bank of Ghana should not resist it.

“I suggest to Parliament to broaden its scope into the matter. There is no law that stops parliament from enquiring into issues in this country and there is no law that puts Bank of Ghana above parliament,” Mr. Bentil noted on Newsfile Saturday.

Speaker of parliament has set up the 9-member committee chaired by First Deputy Speaker to probe the collapse of the Unibank and UT Bank following a petition to the legislature by respective owners, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and Kofi Amoabeng.

However, the Central Bank declined to cooperate with the committee, saying the probe would amount to the usurpation of its constitutional mandate.

A letter addressed to the committee through its lawyers claimed among other things that the petitioners are only seeking to use Parliament to have its decision reviewed.

The Bank of Ghana argued in the said letter that it exercised its statutory powers as stipulated in the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (BSDTI) Act, 2016 (Act 930).

“The BSDTI Act provides how persons who are aggrieved with such decisions may seek redress for their grievances, and the prescribed resolution mechanisms do not include recourse to Parliament.”

Meanwhile, the chairman of the committee, Joe Osei Owusu said his outfit would sit soon to consider the argument of the Central Bank and advise itself accordingly.