The NPP rode on the back of flowery speeches and promises to power; promising among other things to save the public purse from wanton dissipation, but it was to be seen that their 4year term would be heavily inundated with shady and many unscrupulous and corrupt deals; a cancer that stems from the very heart of the presidency down to its tentacles.
Less than a week to the polls and we have been hit by yet another abhorrent revelation, one that perhaps outweighs the AGYAPA deal; The Ghs 52 billion GCB scandal!
A supposed letter addressed to the Managing Director of GCB Bank LTD from the Deputy Auditor General reveals a total of GHC 52.5 billion has been allegedly transferred from GCB’s accounts to some unknown sources.
GCB has for many years been entrusted with the collection of revenues and transfer of same to the central bank. The finance ministry headed by the “pious Ken Ofori Atta” in its supposed quest to improve government revenues, in effect offered to be a part of this task—completely beyond its mandate.
To ascertain the integrity of this arrangement, the Auditor General decided to conduct a reconciliation of the flow of funds from the transit account sitting at GCB to the designated BOG holding accounts. Examinations however revealed that some GHs 52.5billion were transferred to unknown sources other than the approved BOG holding account, contrary to Regulation 12 of the Financial Administration Regulation (FAR), 2004.
GCB responded quickly to the allegation, stating that the content of the publication is false and mischievously designed to discredit the bank. The Audit Service has however since confirmed this supposed letter but says it’s only one of many letters involved in the whole matter. It also went on further to state that some monies have been retrieved.
It is at this point important to point out that this very same Auditor General rubbished the works of his predecessor who was unconstitutionally ousted and let the Senior minister, Osafo Maafo off the hook in the matter of Kroll & Associates where $1 million was paid for no work done.
It is apparent that the Auditor General in coming out with his response to this GCB saga sought to shield some persons. — clearly, a poodle of “the man above.”
It therefore remains to be answered, by the Auditor General and by extension Ofori Atta, where parts of our stolen tax revenues were found, who were/are behind those accounts into which the monies were unlawfully diverted; how much has been found out of the GHs52 billion; whether the finance minister with hindsight, had those accounts created to syphon our tax revenues into the family’s treasury, when for the first time his outfit indulged in an act completely out of its scope, by opting to assist in mobilization of government revenue?
When it’s all said and done, it’s quite disheartening, when one considers the magnitude and volume of money in question. The continuous calculated attempt by this government to rip this nation bare of its wealth is despicable and repugnant to say the least. But for the vigilance of the Minority in parliament and the divine revelation by the Holy Trinity to Martin Amidu, our mineral royalties was to be securitize through Agyapa Royalties Ltd. An approved agreement premised on an amendment to the Mineral Income Investment Fund Act which at the time, was yet to receive presidential assent. —so much for a president who doubles as a lawyer.
The government claims such a deal will help the country raise substantial amount of non-debt capital. This they asserted was an ingenious and innovative way of raising funds. How is this the case when the deal seeks to cede our expected mineral royalties in exchange for a lump sum of about $500-$700million from Agyapa Royalties Ltd.?
Indeed, the Ghanaian populace, like sheep were fattened with the campaign promise of securing the public purse, slaughtered at the swearing in, and feasted upon for four years!
Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo prior to the 2016 elections was sold as an incorruptible and no-nonsense corruption crusader. He promised change and hope, he promised to protect the public purse; to fight corruption in his own administration and retrieve Ghana’s stolen monies from previous administration’s officials. Yet today, four years down the lane, and Ghanaians have lost count of the many corruption scandals that has marred his administration. He has subsequently turned the seat of government into a corruption clearing port; clearing any member of his family, friends and cronies of any corruption allegations levelled against them even before they are investigated. Whether the PDS scandal, the 5 million BOST scandal that saw the deliberate contamination of fuel and onward sale to unregistered companies, the PPA scandal, the Australian visa fraud that saw Pius Hadzide being long cleared of any wrongdoing before the shady CID report exonerated him among others, President Akufo-Addo has failed to show genuine commitment and will to fight corruption head-on.
This notwithstanding, with a large dose of optimism, the Dec 7 polls presents us an opportunity to turn the fortunes of this country around, it presents us an opportunity to plug and seal the perforated holes in the public purse, an opportunity to safeguard our resources. The December polls presents a rare opportunity to re-elect a president whose good works are unparalleled. A president whose good works form the very pivot on which all the flagship “achievements” by this present government are leveraged. A president who has demonstrated by action and not by mere rhetoric his commitment to fight corruption head on. A vote for H.E John Dramani Mahama is a vote to put Ghana back on the path of progress.
It has come to light that the nation’s foremost commercial bank, GCB Bank has transferred a whopping total amount of GHc52 billion (about $10 billion) it held on behalf of the Bank of Ghana into “unknown sources” or accounts.
There were strong denials from government communicators when the story was first broken by popular social media commentator and CEO of Loud Silence Media, Kevin Taylor. Some who could not imagine that such a huge sum of money could be so mishandled accused Kevin of jumping to a conclusion based on a fake letter.
The Audit Service however confirmed that the said letter of reference number EID/B.Line/AUD/20/7 issued on the 5th of October 2020 and signed by the Deputy Auditor General together with the contents therein, was authentic.
Audit Service Reports of 52.5 Billion Cedis Transferred from GCB Bank to Unknown Sources (ghananewspress.com)
Considering the staggering sums of money involved – sums amounting to billions of dollars (USD) – the laxity in financial administration could be construed as being either criminally negligent or criminally deliberate; given that there were no bank statements covering certain specific months for which reason the service was “unable to ascertain the completeness of transactions between the collection and holding accounts.”
The Audit Service, which is purported to be working at the instance of the Ministry of Finance, charged the Managing Director of GCB thus: “our examination of the Transit Accounts bank statement in relation to tax revenue showed that your bank contrary to the agreement for the funds to be transferred into designated BoG Holding Accounts, transferred a total of GHc 52,537,175,778.13 into unknown sources over the period under review.”
This raises a number of critical questions regarding procedure, transparency and accountability.
Interestingly, the Finance Minister, Hon. Ken Ofori Atta, a man whose name is “no stranger” to matters of conflict of interest has been mentioned as a possible interested personality who can shed light on the “unknown sources” or accounts that received the moneys.
Meanwhile, the media has reported GCB’s denial of the allegations of “unauthorized transfers.” The Ghanaian public is eager to learn who authorized them to make those illicit transfers. Hopefully, we shall know more in the coming days.