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BoG has printed ¢22b without parliamentary approval – Ato Forson alleges
Former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has accused the government of encouraging the Bank of Ghana to print an amount of GH¢22 billion without Parliamentary approval.
According to him, the fresh currency notes were printed between January and June 2022.
The information, according to Dr Forson, is hidden on page 97 of Appendix 2a of the Mid-year budget under the section on Bank of Ghana.
“They have printed GH¢22 billion fresh money without the knowledge of Parliament and without informing all of us,” he said while addressing the press on Monday.
The Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament said the act is illegal and against the Bank of Ghana Act.
He indicated that the printing of the currencies has contributed to the rise in inflation, adding that “if this trend continues I won’t be surprised that we will end the year with inflation of about 50 percent.”
“I am saddened, no wonder inflation is galloping, no wonder that our reserves position is dwindling. Because when you create new money out of the thin air, what happens is that inflation will go up and obviously because it is new money, you will end up losing your reserves because there would be new consumption,” he said.
As a result, he urged the Minister to return and deliver a new mid-year budget since the omission of the GH¢22 billion cedis is pervasive and scandalous.
He also had a word for the Governor of the Bank of Ghana.
“I want to urge the Governor of the central bank that he has engaged in gross illegality and in future if he is asked to print money, he should first come to Parliament before he acts.”
Source: www.myjoyonline.com
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
