Ahiagbah fires back at Ato Forson; insists BoG tried to build new HQ when he was a board member

The Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Richard Ahiagbah has fired back at the Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Forson after Dr Forson descended heavily on him over claims that the opposition lawmaker was a board member when the Bank of Ghana (BoG) began the process of getting a new head office in 2015.

Dr Forson had stated that “For the records, the Bank of Ghana under the erstwhile Mahama/NDC administration never awarded a contract for the construction of this new Head Office.”

“We therefore challenge the likes of Ahiagbah and his NPP apologists to show evidence to the contrary if they have any.”

This comes in the wake of mounting pressure on the Bank of Ghana to discard plans of continuing with the project after it recorded a GH¢60.8 billion loss in 2022.

The Central Bank, though having explained the circumstances that led to the loss, is also said to have recorded a negative equity of GH¢55.1 billion.

Notwithstanding, the Bank is said to be erecting a new head office, which is estimated at GH¢250 million.

The Minority in Parliament on Tuesday, August 8 gave the Governor of the Bank, Dr Ernest Addison, 21 days within which to vacate his position, together with his two deputies, over what members describe as waste.

But NPP’s Communications Director, Richard Ahiagbah, disclosed in a media report that the Minority Leader was a board member of the Bank when the processes for a new head office began.

This, the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam MP denies.

“For the records, I was not part of the processes for the construction of this new Head Office building, and the Bank of Ghana Board never began such processes for the construction of this new Head Office building at Ridge.”

He added that no land was purchased anywhere in Accra for the construction of a new head office.

“We maintain that the decision by the current Bank of Ghana Management and Board to construct an ultra-modern Head Office building at a time that the Bank of Ghana has recorded a loss of GhS60.8 billion and a negative equity of GHS55.1 billion; at a time when the ordinary Ghanaian is struggling to make ends meet, is a reckless and misplaced priority.

“No attempt at equalization can redeem the historical collapse and mismanagement of the Bank of Ghana by this Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government, alongside Governor Addison and his management. The countdown to the resignation of the Governor and his deputies is still on.”

In a reply to Dr Forson, Mr Ahiagbah said that “The objective of our communications is not to defend necessarily, but to provide information to expose NDC’s mischief. Response to Dr Ato Forson’s retort to my tweet.

“Picture of Hon. Ato Forson on the 2014 & 2015 Board of Directors of the Bank of Ghana.

Hon. Ato Forson, are you aware of these discussions in 2014 & 2015 to procure land for the purposes of building a new HQ for the Bank of Ghana from the following people/ entities?

Messrs KAA Law, offered a 7-acre land at USS21miilion to the Bank in 2014. The location of the land and other factors led to the bank rejecting the Offer.
Messrs IbisTek Ltd offered a 20-acre land near the Achimota Forest at $2.5 million per acre.

Further to a directive by the Board of the Bank in an Extract dated 25th June 2015, the Bank pursued to negotiate for the acquisition of the land.

This So, Hon. Ato Forson was part of the Board in 2015 that decided to build a new HQ for the Bank of Ghana, and took the necessary first step to procure the land which ended up costing the taxpayer GHs1.2 million in settlement when they failed to conclude the deal.

Remember that in 2015 Ghana had signed up for the $925.9 million (SDR 664.20 million) IMF ECF, and the economy was in the worst of places, but the Board, with Hon Ato Forson on it, proceeded to buy the $50 million land to build the HQ.