By Isaac Ato MENSAH
Accra- 14 November, 2018.
The cat is out of the bag; Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) is a poisoned chalice.
This was confirmed by Thiaru Ndugu, deputy managing director of CBG at a meeting with the staff in Accra this week, reports Nana Oye Ankrah for citibusinessnews.com on 12 November, 2018.
‘We are trying as much as possible to consult the customers and make them understand exactly what is happening. We were given a bond and that is the only cashflow we can pay depositors with.
We held a meeting with them [financial institutions, and savings and loans companies who have investments and deposits with CBG] and told them we can only match them to what the government gives us.
The Governors were there. It was at the Bank of Ghana. It was a bit of nice and a bit of nasty experience with them.
They threatened us, we explained the situation, the Governors also explained to them that it is the truth. So they told us to go and come back with a proposal so we are meeting them again next week.’
In our 24 August article captioned CONSOLIDATED BANK GHANA – A POISONED CHALICE?, we raised a number of issues.
‘Who appointed the board of directors and what is the quantum of funds which the executive directors can authorise without board approval, seeing that even their stated capital has no parliamentary approval – déjà vu?’
We concluded by asking if the management of CBG had heard of the terms wilfully, negligently, recklessly and fraudulently causing financial loss to the state.
If that is the illness the government (Ministry of Finance) seeks to cure by not releasing the bond cash to CBG, then we welcome it.
This means that we should all expect to hear in Thursday’s budget presentation by the finance minister, a proposal to give a ?retroactive approval to the 5.67 billion Cedis (roughly USD 1 billion) bond and a Consolidated Bank Ghana bill which when passed into law will enable the directors to directly dispense the bond cash.
Yes, a stitch in time…never mind laws against retroactive legislation…”We shall cure it with wisdom”.
We believe CBG has spoken the truth, so let us understand them; no more rattle prattle about the largest commercial bank in Ghana with 175 branches in nine regions and a stated capital of GHC450 million (USD100 million).
CBG is only that red and black logo on the door posts of some badly fenced bank buildings with open gutters and rubbish around its premises that trotro conductors love to point with derision whilst telling their passengers, ‘When you go they won’t give your money to you’.
Whoever was hired to promote CBG did not do investors, the banking community and themselves any good.
Certainly whichever individual or institution did that PR or advertising job must be queried by the Institute of Public Relations Ghana and the Advertising Association of Ghana if they are members thereof.
The story is even more troubling for our Trades Union Congress and long suffering pensioners.
Let us hear the CBG again: ‘We met the government agencies [pension funds and Asset Management companies] and most have been profiled. The payment we agreed with them is five years from now at 7.5 percent per annum.’
In a nation with no Advertising Standards Authority where one can report false claims by advertisers such as CBG, one can only rely on our parliamentarians to save us.
After the politricks and funfair of Thursday’s budget presentation, they should sit their butts down at the various committee meetings and solve this CBG mess.
Enough is enough.
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