Ken Ofori-Atta
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has asked the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to stop giving ‘vain’ promises to depositors who are yet to receive their monies deposited with collapsed banks because the NPP government is in the process of completing the payment of depositors’ monies.
A former Minister of Information and now Managing Director of State Transport Company Limited, Nana Akomea, who made this known at the NPP press conference in Accra yesterday, said the NDC has no ‘shame’ after superintending over the collapse of these banks and 347 micro finance institutions as well as 23 savings and loans institutions and turning round to give such vain promises already being resolved by the present government.
He wondered where the NDC would get the money to fulfill such a ‘vain’ promise.
According to him, the government has now released GH¢3.56 billion for the payment of the rest of the depositors whose monies were converted into bonds payable in five years’ time.
He said accounts would be opened at the Consolidated Bank of Ghana for the depositors’ money to be paid into them for onward payment to the remaining depositors.
He said the government had already paid 90% of these depositors numbering about 4.6 million cash up front, with just 10% remaining which is now being tackled by the government.
He explained that the government initially replaced the money with bonds but being a listening government, it has heard the cries of those with bigger deposits and consulted with the Bank of Ghana to pay these monies.
“The Akufo-Addo government has realized that Covid-19 has come to exacerbate the sufferings of many Ghanaians and everyone across the world so the President has decided to pay the monies of the rest of the depositors,” he said.
He explained that when the monies are paid, they would lead to the expansion of the economy and increase economic activities as well.
“This step taken by the government remains a monumental feat of the NPP and evidences the sensitivity of this government to the plight of Ghanaians. Cognizant of the hardships and liquidity crunch occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, this could be described as a prudent approach to ease the already constrained economy, boost economic activities and expedite the return of the economy to normalcy,” he noted.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr