Renowned economist and businessman, Dr. Kofi Amoah, has once again berated Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta for the collapse of many Ghanaian-owned banks during the financial sector clean-up exercise.
He suggested that Ofori-Atta collapsed other banks and saved his bank, Databank, which he is now using to enrich himself through commissions the bank gets for facilitating government loan agreements.
Dr. Amoah made these remarks while responding to a news article on GhanaWeb where Ofori-Atta said only Jesus Christ can say whether he is happy with his work as finance minister.
“Ofori-Atta, after he was asked whether Jesus Christ would be happy with the way he has handled Ghana’s economy, in an interview on Hard Truth, said: “It’s up to Jesus to declare. I can do the best that I can. But I am very much honoured and blessed to have this position, and mine is to obey and do the best I can with his guidance,” he said.
Reacting to this in a tweet shared on August 4, 2022, Dr. Amoah asked Ofori-Atta, who has been making biblical references during his public pronouncements, whether Jesus Christ will be happy with him collapsing banks in Ghana.
“Honorable” Ofori Atta, one simple question: Did Jesus tell you to liquidate Ghanaian-owned banks built with hard work n sacrifices, whilst saving your own Databank to be used in siphoning commissions from the huge loans you contracted for Gh, which have now sent us to the IMF?” parts of the tweet shared by Dr. Amoah read.
Dr. Amoah was the majority shareholder of Global Access Savings and Loans, which was one of the 15 savings and loan companies whose license was revoked by the Bank of Ghana for being insolvent.
The financial sector clean-up, which was done in 2019, also led to the collapse of 11 banks and several micro-finance institutions.
Some economists, including Prof. Stephen Adei, have questioned the rationale for the clean-up, saying it is one of the reasons for the current economic challenges the country is facing.
Dr. Amoah’s tweet below:
