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STATEMENT TO ADDRESS MISCHIEVOUS REMARKS MADE BY
GOVERNOR ERNEST ADDISON AT THE 100TH MONETARY POLICY MEETING (MPC)
OF THE BANK OF GHANA HELD IN ACCRA ON 31ST MAY, 2021
This statement is to address and respond to a number of inaccurate, unfortunate and
misleading remarks made by the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Ernest Addison. In a
response to a question relating to the suit filed by Birim LLC against Groupe Nduom in the
United States, at the 100th Monetary Policy Meeting, the BoG Governor effectively made the
following unfortunate statements:
- That the suit is evidence out there that the BoG’s financial sector reform was not a political
witch-hunting exercise especially in relation to GN Bank. - That the US court system is more expeditious than our courts
- That shareholders and directors took assets from the collapsed banks.
We find the above remarks very unfortunate, misleading and mischievous and wish to
respond as follows: –
That the suit is evidence out there that the BoG’s exercise in the financial sector reform
was not a witch-hunting exercise especially in relation to GN Bank.
On this statement, we wish to state that the suit filed in the United States by Birim LLC is
actually a continuation of the deliberate and well-orchestrated political smear campaign
against a Ghanaian businessman and politician, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom by some elements in
the current administration. We see the suit as an attempt to divert attention from the negative
image that the government has suffered for its high-handedness in the reform agenda. The
suit is an attempt by elements in the government, working with their collaborators, to
strenuously seek some form of external or third-party vindication for their deliberate collapse
of the businesses of the veritable entrepreneur Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom. That is why we see
the governor’s comments as a corollary to the bizarre suit and an unfortunate attempt to give
the suit a cloth of legitimacy and currency.
That the US court system is more expeditious than our courts
This comment sought to create the impression that the suit filed by the Birim LLC against
Groupe Nduom had been expeditiously decided and that the frivolous and baseless claims
against Dr. Nduom had been upheld by the court in the US. For the records, the US court in
Chicago seized with the matter has not made any pronouncements or delivered its ruling in
the matter for the BoG Governor to draw the unfortunate conclusion of a somewhat
expeditious trial in the United States.
At the current stage, Counsel for Dr. Nduom and others has filed a response to the suit and
has given cogent reasons for the consideration of the court for the matter to be dismissed. The
comments by the Governor created the impression that the matter had been concluded and
that the wild allegations had been proven or upheld by the court.Secondly, the suit is between a surrogate claimant and Dr. Nduom and not a case brought
against Dr. Nduom by the United States government as some media houses misreported the
facts.
Thirdly, on the question of the slowness of our processes, we would like to remind the
Governor, and by extension the government, that “slow court processes” in Ghana is a twoway traffic and that some shareholders and directors who also sued the BoG or the
government suffer the same processes bemoaned by the Governor. Judgements in some of the
cases have been arrested by the same BoG utilizing the very legal processes available in
Ghana. To proceed to express some kind of frustration with the processes creates the
unfortunate impression that it is only the BoG or the government that suffers undue delays in
our courts. Shareholders who have sued the Bank of Ghana are also going through the same
legal processes described as slow by the Governor.
Moreover, we would like to address the wild allegations of money laundering levelled against
Dr. Nduom by many different people as part of this smear campaign. For the avoidance of
doubt, Dr. Nduom and Groupe Nduom have not engaged in any money laundering activity
anywhere. In fact, the Bank of Ghana itself has not come to that conclusion or at least, they
have not publicly made that allegation against the veritable businessman.
Money Laundering is a criminal offence under our laws and it is regulated by the AntiMoney Laundering Act 2020, Act 1044. According to the Act 1044, a person commits the
offense of money laundering when that person converts, conceals or transfers the
PROCEEDS OF AN UNLAWFUL ACTIVITY for the purpose of concealing or disguising
the illicit origin of the proceeds. The law also defines what an UNLAWFUL ACTIVITY
means and lists about 25 criminal offences and prohibited activities such as trade in narcotics,
murder, kidnaping, terrorism, child trafficking etc. Neither Dr. Nduom nor Gold Coast, nor
GN Bank nor any of the GN Companies has been engaged in any criminal activity or
prohibited activity that constitute an unlawful activity under our laws.
At worst, the allegation of insolvency as result of government’s refusal to pay its indebtedness
to the Groupe is what has been used as a pretext to revoke the licenses of his companies.
Hitherto, the companies were licensed and regulated and were engaged in open
legitimate lawful business activity for over twenty-five years.
The transfer of funds for the purpose of procuring a fleet of vehicles, industrial raw materials,
office equipment, furniture, computers, air conditioning units for 300 plus offices, heavy
industrial generators, heavy industrial machinery for printing, manufacturing, quarrying,
construction, rice milling and other consumable supplies does not and cannot constitute
money laundering. In fact, GN Bank alone had more than three hundred vehicles at the time
of receivership, which vehicles have been abandoned and at the mercy of the vagaries of the
weather, in addition to the huge cost of garage services, possibly provided by cronies of the
people involved in the whole plot.
That shareholders and directors took assets from the collapsed banks.
It is unfortunate for the BoG Governor to continue to focus on what they call prudential
violations committed by the directors and shareholders and completely ignore where the
substantial parts of the so called taken assets are located. Some of the shareholders and
directors have made legitimate and credible claims of the huge government of Ghana’s
indebtedness to some of these financial institutions, that if they were paid promptly by the
government, the firms would not be classified as insolvent or illiquid.If assets were taken from a bank, and the assets can be traced to the government of Ghana,
even if the transfer of assets to the government was in violation of prudential norms, what is
the big deal? Does the indebtedness disappear because the money was lent to government of
Ghana contractors in violation of the rules of financial intermediation?
The Suit in the United States
We would like to take this opportunity to provide some details about the suit filed in the
United States. Two former customers of two Groupe Nduom companies in Ghana have
ostensibly SOLD their claim against Gold Coast and GN Bank to a US based company called
Birim LLC. So Birim LLC claims that they have paid what GN or Gold Coast should have
paid to these two customers. Instead of filing a claim with the Receiver and the Liquidator, as
the government of Ghana announced as the procedure to make a claim against GN Bank and
Gold Coast, Birim LLC, as part of the smear campaign decided to rather file a suit in the
United States as a pretext to make a barrage of unfounded allegations against Dr. Nduom and
his business entities. Among other things, the suit is about a claim of $30,000 in respect of
the Gold Coast customer with interest and legal fees against Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom. The suit
offers no proof of wire fraud or anything of that nature. It merely refers to a mysterious report
from the Bank of Ghana to which an appropriate answer has been offered by GN.
What is the interest of Birim LLC, that it would “ACQUIRE” or “BUY” all the interest of
Margaret Sekyere’s investment? We should pay particular attention to the following facts:
Margaret Sekyere has filed a lawsuit at the High Court of Ghana still pending for her alleged
investment; she has also filed a claim with the Securities & Exchange Commission for a
claim of GHC134,000 for which GHC74,000.00 has been validated. She has possibly
received the initial bailout amount of GHC50,000.00 from GCB Capital, which amount Dr.
Nduom will be expected to pay to the government of Ghana from his money with the same
government of Ghana contractors. Then she sells her interest to Birim LLC. We are at sea as
to the real intentions of these conspirators. Is it about recovering funds or to pursue with
others a sinister plan against a Ghanaian citizen?
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana is seemingly rejoicing over something which has not
taken place. Is he sitting in Ghana pronouncing victory for a case in the US which has just
begun? The Governor has left his field of expertise and is now acting like a clear
political foot soldier. In fact, the BoG Governor was so much in a hurry to vilify Dr. Nduom
that he refused to notice that the suit in the United States side-stepped his own instituted
procedure for claims against the so called companies under receivership. Some faceless entity
like Birim LLC has conspired with Margaret Sekyere to IGNORE your own stated
procedures, and yet you are happy to report their actions as a vindication of the deliberate
collapse of Ghanaian companies. We would rather consider their action as a vote of no
confidence in your stewardship. For the avoidance of doubt, per the claims of Birim LLC,
they should have taken over the interest of Margaret Sekyere in the suit she filed in Ghana
and also her claims she filed against Gold Coast with the SEC. This is what the lawyers call
Lis pendens, instead of filing this frivolous case far away in the United States as an agent of
elements in government determined to destroy a Ghanaian businessman. These attempts will
never fly.
Conclusion
The most important solution is for the Bank of Ghana and the Government of Ghana to
validate the claims of its indebtedness to these financial institutions even if those debts are
indirectly owed to these firms, as lawyers of the Bank of Ghana had been arguing in court. This second wave of vicious attacks against the person of Dr. Nduom is a face-saving
exercise for a botched and politically motivated financial sector reform. It is also to divert
attention from the FixTheCountry campaign led by the youth of Ghana. The incessant attacks
on Dr. Nduom is not in the best interest of the Republic of Ghana. He was and is still creating
the much-needed jobs our teeming youth are seeking. The power of government must be
exercised in support of its citizens and not to be construed as a tool against political
opponents. The government would be better off fixing the unemployment situation than
engaging in needless attacks on its own citizens. #FixTheCountryNow.
Sign
Felix Mantey
Director of Communications
024356018