A member of the Communications team of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Kofi Ameyaw has said that the Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Forson should have known better about the plan to build a new headquarters for the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
Kofi Ameyaw indicated that the plan to relocate the BoG head office has been there for years, a plan the Minority Leader is well aware of because he served on the board of the BoG as Deputy Finance Minister.
The Minority in Parliament has been asking the central bank to provide answers to questions relating to the new headquarters for the central bank.
The Minority is requesting, among other things, information on the processes involved in the procurement of the land for the construction of the new headquarters building.
They also want to know the names of consultants and project managers.
But in a press statement issued on Monday, August 21, the Governor of the BoG Dr Ernest Addison explained that the Bank of Ghana, as far back as the 1990s began the search for suitable and secured land for a new Head office.
In 2012, he said, the Bank was allocated an unnumbered 5.19-acre land at Accra Central by the Lands Commission which also had issues.
The Bank did not have access to the land since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration refused to give the Bank vacant possession on the grounds that they had never agreed to give up ownership of the land, the statement said, adding that the Bank continued to search for suitable land for its Head Office throughout the period from 2013 to 2016, he said.
Speaking on the Big Issue on TV3 Tuesday, August 22, Kofi Ameyaw said “The NDC Minority behave as though they have never been in government before. You have a minority leader now, who was a Deputy Finance Minister, who served on the board of the Bank of Ghana. One would have expected that at least, with the greatest of respect to him and to his office, he would have known better.
“As far as the building of the headquarters of the Bank of Ghana is concerned, he is aware that the attempt to build a new head office did not start yesteryear, it has been there since the 90s.
“It is not as though they started building the thing in 2022 or 2023. Yes, $250million or even less at this time, to the ordinary Ghanaian it is uncomfortable because we are going through a lot … with all that is happening with the DDEP and if you should hear that BoG is devoting $250million to build a new headquarters it is a bit uncomfortable but when you get the information as provided by the BoG you understand it.”
He further urged the BoG to be proactive in releasing information on its activities in order to deal with misinformation out there.
“This information by the BoG should come early. I am of the opinion that the NDC wants to come to power on the back of our emotions and our sentiments and I believe that this country should not be built on emotions and sentiments. The days where propaganda, lies, mudslinging, all these things are gone, we are in an ear where we need to focus on issues, messages,” he said.