Mahama blames govt for hasty banking sector clean-up

The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2024 elections, John Mahama, has described the banking sectors clean-up undertaken by the government as hasty.

He said that decision affected indigenous capital in the financial and banking sector and has, therefore, pledged to restore the capital of indigenous businesses in that sector.

Consequently, he said the NDC was advocating an independent review of the processes that went into the banking sector clean-up and gave an assurance that the licences of those that were unjustly treated would be restored.

Former President Mahama said this when the Global President of Groupe Nduom, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, paid a courtesy call on him to present a petition for his support for the reinstatement of GN Bank and Blackshield.

Present at the meeting were the Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, and a former Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah.

Criteria

Mr Mahama said the criteria that were used by the government did not constitute a one-size-fits-all approach as it they were just like different rules for different people. "Banks exist for different purposes; they have different objectives and they cater for different segments of the market”, he said.

The NDC flag bearer said it was a pity that when he went round the country, a number of micro-finance firms, including the defunct GN Banks, were firmly shut with padlocks, stressing that these closures left most communities without financial services.

He said although there were some outstanding legal issues, the party would look at them before taking office when voted into power in the upcoming elections. "By the grace of God when we get into office, you can expect that you would all get a sympathetic hearing in trying to unravel what has happened," he emphasised.

Mr Mahama said indigenous participation in the financial sector was critical and that the current lopsided dominance of foreign banks was not the best that the country should have.

He said banks such as GN Bank and UT Bank that were closed were indigenous banks that were dealing mostly with small and medium enterprises, a risky end of the market. Mr Mahama said there was the need to look at the social impact of throwing out about 10,000 banking sector professionals after all the training and education they had.

Nduom

In his remarks, Dr Nduom, accompanied by some senior management members of his firm, said his firm built a bank from the beginning with the objective of being the people's bank, to be everywhere to serve the ordinary Ghanaian.

From the onset, he stated, the management said it was going to build at least 300 branches and serve at least one million customers. "So we built not just these 300 branches; we built 305 and we put in the technology network so that no matter where you would be you can access your bank account," he said.

Dr Nduom said the bank built a network which became a focal point for economic development in many of the areas.