Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, has categorically denied the allegations made by Mr. Ahiagbah, the Director of Communications for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), that he was involved in the initial processes of constructing the new head office building for the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
In a press release issued on Saturday, August 12, the former Deputy Finance Minister stated that the claims put forth by Mr. Ahiagbah should be disregarded by all well-intentioned Ghanaians.
He firmly asserted that during the Mahama administration, no contract was ever awarded by the BoG for the construction of a new head office.
Dr. Ato Forson challenged Mr. Ahiagbah to present any evidence to the contrary that he might possess in order to support his claims.
He stated, “For the records, the Bank of Ghana under the erstwhile Mahama/NDC administration never awarded a contract for the construction of this new Head Office.”
He further expressed that the BoG had never purchased land in any part of Accra for the purpose of constructing a new headquarters building.
Reiterating his point, Dr. Ato Forson maintained that he considers the new office construction unnecessary and called for the central bank to halt the project.
He argued, “We maintain that the decision by the current Bank of Ghana Management and Board to construct an ultra-modern Head Office building at a time that the Bank of Ghana has recorded a loss of GHS60.8 billion and a negative equity of GHS55.1 billion; at a time when the ordinary Ghanaian is struggling to make ends meet, is a reckless and misplaced priority.”
Mr. Ahiagbah, speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile program on Saturday, had alleged that Dr. Ato Forson was involved in the early stages of the Bank of Ghana’s board-led initiative to construct a new headquarters building. According to Mr. Ahiagbah, discussions about the new building’s construction began in the 1990s, with actual processes commencing later.
He asserted that Dr. Ato Forson, while serving on the board as Deputy Finance Minister under the Mahama-led administration, participated in negotiations to purchase land for the new headquarters at a cost of $2.5 million per acre, located around the Achimota forest area.
Mr. Ahiagbah also acknowledged that although the BoG Board withdrew from the negotiations at a certain point, a settlement of $1.2 million was eventually paid to the individual involved. Contrary to these claims, Dr. Ato Forson firmly refuted any involvement in the processes related to the new BoG office construction and urged people to disregard Mr. Ahiagbah’s assertions entirely.
