Pay depositors early to restore confidence in the banking sector - Baptist Convention to Gov’t

The Executive President of the Ghana Baptist Convention (GBC), Rev. Dr. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi has prayed the Government of Ghana to come out boldly to explain how and when all monies would be paid to the disappointed Ghanaian depositors after the closure of their banks by the Central Bank of Ghana.

He could not comprehend why the Government and for that matter the Bank of Ghana had not been forthcoming with adequate and convincing information about the issue, thereby leaving those depositors with continuous fear and panic.

Rev. Dr. Adu-Gyamfi who said this in a well-rehearsed statement at the 56th Annual Session of the GBC held at Ejura in the Ashanti Region appreciated the effort of the Bank of Ghana and the Government in bringing sanity to the financial sector, and for the promise and commitments that no depositor would lose his/her money.

The Annual Session was under the theme: Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity and The Future of Baptist Identity”.

He said though the Bank of Ghana had appointed Receivers to handle the payment process, there were also conflicting reports that seem to suggest there was no 100% guarantee that depositors of savings and loans companies would get their monies back. “Some people are also saying that monies will not be paid in bulk but will be spread out over a period of three years. We would like the government and the Bank of Ghana to clarify the position so that genuine depositors with these companies will know their true position so they could plan accordingly”.

The Executive President of the GBC encouraged the government to consider facilitating early payment of those deposits or investments to ease the burden of families and individuals and restore confidence in the banking sector.

In a quick response, the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta who was the Special Guest of Honour at the 56th GBC Annual Session assured all depositors that the Government was committed to ensuring that the investments of the people did not go waste.

He said: "An amount of over GHC14 million had been voted for that purpose and urged the depositors to exercise a little restraint". Mr. Ofori-Atta indicated that the Government was bold in its decision to bring sanity into the banking sector, damning every consequence, because it (Government) did not want the Ghanaian depositor to suffer any fatalities.

Urging Ghanaians to support the Government to succeed in that bid, the Finance Minister also appealed to them to ignore any propaganda and politics from any quarters that sought to undermine the good efforts of the Government and Bank of Ghana.