Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh has called out to his colleagues honorable members; the minority caucus precisely those on parliament’s finance committee to desist from the politicization of matters relating to the National Investment Bank (NIB), stating that the bank is not for sale.
This follows allegations by the Minority claiming that the Akufo-Addo-led government and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) are plotting to sell the NIB to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).
According to the minority instead of acquisition and liquidation of NIB, recapitalization should be the focus, citing a capitalization deficit of GH¢2.4 billion as the bank’s biggest challenge.
Their analysis suggested that restructuring NIB’s balance sheet could generate over GH¢2.75 billion to address the deficit.
However, addressing the media in Parliament on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, on the issue, Mr Annoh-Dompreh, called on his colleague NDC MPs to refrain from undermining state institutions, particularly the National Investment Bank (NIB), at every opportunity they get.
The New Board and management the majority chief whip explained has ensured that the audit which was not undertaken in 2017 and 2018 was done and it was after this that it was determined that the Bank(NIB) needed 2.2billion Ghana cedis as a recapitalization fund The necessary oxygen to saw up NIB as a Bank. Additionally, in 2019, the action led by the Finance Minister obtained parliamentary approval for an amount of 2.2 billion as a sovereign guarantee(Ghana Amalgamated Trust).
The Nsawam/Adoagyiri legislator therefore noted that the manner in which the minority, led by Isaac Adongo, the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, has been criticizing NIB has severe financial repercussions for Ghana’s struggling economy.
“The way and manner our colleagues on the opposite side go to the market with issues of national importance without any facts should be a concern to all. If they don’t have the facts, they should just be patient, investigate, and get the facts before they come out,” he cautioned.
Annoh-Dompreh emphasized “What the government should be encouraged and urged to do is to help in the recapitalization but not to run down the bank. So, our colleagues in the Minority should stop this politicization of all matters, especially matters related to the financial sector.”
He also accused the minority of attempting to run down indigenous banks with propaganda and called on the public to ignore the rants of the NDC MPs.
“So the least our colleagues can do is to at least be careful when commenting about a bank that is mandated by law to help shore up and develop our industry sector.”
Source: Mary Quartey
