The minority in parliament has planned a protest against Bank of Ghana Governor Dr. Ernest Addison and his two deputies on Tuesday, September 5.
It will be carried out in conjunction with progressive forces and other good-hearted Ghanaians from civil society. Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader said this in a letter to the Greater Accra Regional Police Command on August 21.
The caucus claims they are taking this measure because the central bank has illegally printed over GH¢80 billion for the Akufo-Addo administration.
“We write in line with sections 1, 2, & 3 of the Public Order Act 1994 (Act 491) to notify you of an impending public protest to be embarked upon by the Minority in Parliament in collaboration with Civil Society Organizations, Progressive Forces and other well-meaning Ghanaians.”
“The purpose of this protest is to express our revulsion against the illegal printing of money (about GH¢ 80 billion) between 2021 and 2022 by BOG for the corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government, which led to a hyper-inflation rate of 54.1% in December 2022,” the letter said.
They claim that 850,000 Ghanaians are sinking into poverty due to the BoG’s actions. “This singular act of BOG has negatively impacted livelihoods and businesses and pushed about 850,000 Ghanaians into poverty in the year 2022 alone.”
On the other hand, Dr. Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has stated that the BoG wasn’t providing funds for the government until 2020 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent drop in financing from investors in the capital market.
He claims that until the economic difficulties of last year, the central bank had a firm policy of not funding any government spending at all.
Dr. Addison told reporters at a press conference on Monday, August 21, that the government had consulted with the IMF before deciding how to fund its plans last year.
“It is not true that the Bank of Ghana has been providing financing for the government every year. There has been zero financing in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021. The Bank of Ghana has only had to support in the pandemic year of 2020 and in the crisis year of 2022”, he said.
Read the full statement below
