In defence of the Central Bank
When the 44th President of the United States of America, Barrack Hussein Obama, made his first trip as President upon his election in 2008, Ghana was the only country in Africa he visited.
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On July 11, 2009, President Obama addressed Parliament House on “A new Movement of Promise”. A major highlight of his speech was the need for African countries to “build strong institutions and NOT strong men”.
This is the thrust of our editorial of today.
When we voted for a return to constitutional governance in 1990 and 1991 thereabout, the idea for many Ghanaians was to build institutions of state, strong enough to be accountable to the people, hence inculcating the words Probity and Accountability in our 4th Constitution.
So when constitutional rule returned in 1992, never did we envisage that today, state institutions could be so undermined by supposedly some state actors, politicians, self-styled civil society organisations and “ignorant experts” and their cohorts in the media.
While constitutional rule has brought about liberty and individual rights and or freedoms to every Ghanaian, we also swore to abide by the tenets of the “rule of law”.
Today however, it seems we are rather in era of “ the rule of the ignoramus and freedom from abuse and insults” on especially the air waves.
We have over the past three decades undermined the very institutions of state whom we have entrusted the power to function effectively for our common social good.
We have taken the Electoral Commission to the cleaners, depending on when you find yourself in opposition.
We have aligned and maligned appointments to the hierarchy of the Military, the Police and other security agencies to political office holders and undermined their efforts at effectively protecting our lives.
The judiciary has taken a beating so much so that every decision of the highest court has been criticised in political colours irrespective of the sound judgements of the highest courts.
Now, the Central Bank seems to be yet another institution of state to come under attack by a section of the society, who profess to know it all and yet know nothing, and those who are in the know but choose to spew propaganda to further their political ambitions.
Graphic Business is at a loss and we question to what extent political actors, “experts” and a section of the media would go to undermine state institutions such as the Bank of Ghana at the expense of national cohesion.
We have in previous editorials had cause to lambast those so-called “ignoramus” whose idea of a Central Bank’s financing government’s expenditure in these critical times must be that of “hands-off approach”.
We question their intellectual understanding of the issues at play.
Do we really wish for this country to progress? Do we understand the role of the central bank in an economy such as Ghana?
Don’t we get it that if the Central Bank had been so run down (as alleged) during the past six years without the buffers they had built, this economy would have been on its knees?
Rather than berate the Central Bank, shouldn’t we be praising the current leadership of the Bank of Ghana for helping to salvage the economy by taking over 50 per cent hit in its accounts that has ensured that we are able to access the IMF programme?
How can the Central Bank, which has saved the economy from total collapse be the fall guy for the inept and incompetence of those whose duty it to supervise the institutions of state?
Let us be minded that the only institution of state that has safeguarded the fragile stability of the economy and to a large extent the national security of this country has been the Central Bank in these very challenging times.
The timely support for the economy has ensured that those who feed fat on the national purse by way of ex-gratia payments at the end of every 4 years are paid their monthly salaries and allowances.
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That but for the Central Bank’s intervention there would be no economy for any political party to manage beyond 2024, let alone conduct an election in the first place.
Indeed state institutions are not above reproach. We do understand that when they fail in their responsibilities, they are bound to be criticised.
However, telling bold faced lies without the hindsight of understanding the core issues or deliberately whipping up public sentiments against state institutions is nothing short of mischief and undermines their authority.
Graphic Business is of the opinion that our commentary on national issues must be born out of proper research and understanding of the issues, devoid of innuendoes, outright fabrications and lies and must at all times seek to promote the national interest and cohesion especially in a period of national crises such as what we find ourselves in currently.
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Anything short of these does not help the national cause. Because a collapsed economy does not inure to the benefit of anybody. In the end, the repercussions will be far greater than the mischief we set out to create.