The Dean of the University of Cape Coast Business School, Professor John Gatsi, has lashed out at the Governor of the Bank of Ghana for his description of the Minority-led protest last Tuesday seeking his resignation.
Prof Gatsi said such description of the protest as uncivilised and staged like hooligans is unexpected of a central bank Governor, adding that it is “vulgar”.
“Well, I think it is unfortunate, the language is vulgar and is unexpected of a Governor of the central bank,” he said in an interview on Ghana Tonight on TV3 on Thursday, October 5.
This was in reaction to an interview granted international news website Central Banking by the Governor of Ghana’s central bank, Dr Ernest Yedu Kwamina Addison.
Dr Addison described the protest, which was dubbed #OccupyBoGProtest, as “completely unnecessary”.
He added that neither he nor his two deputies have an intention to resign.
“The Minority in Parliament have many channels to channel their grievances in civilised societies, not through demonstrations in the streets as hooligans,” Dr Addison told Central Banking in the interview on Wednesday, October 4.
But reacting to this, Prof Gatsi said the Governor should rather be explaining the current situation to Ghanaians than to use such unprintable language against the protest.
“I think the central bank Governor has a duty to continue to press on Ghanaians to understand his position but to go beyond that and call protesters hooligans and the rest that they should know the right channel to use etc, that is uncalled for, that is unfortunate and I believe the central bank Governor is exercising powers that he thinks he wields over the people.”
Prof Gatsi predicts that Dr Addison will soon be out of his post.
“He will be stripped of those powers very soon and because of that he needs to be measured in the statement that he makes to the people.”
Tuesday’s protest could not see organisers presenting their petition to the Governor, who was said to be in a meeting with officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
As a result, the Director of Security at the Bank, Wing Commander (rt) Kwame Asare-Boateng, was delegated to receive the petition on behalf of the central bank.
However, the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, a former board member of the Bank, said he felt disrespected for the Bank to send a security chief to meet them.
They vowed to return to meet Dr Addison face-to-face to present the petition.