‘To think UT Bank is no more bleeds my heart’ – Kofi Amoabeng speaks

Former Chief Executive of the defunct UT Bank Prince Kofi Amoabeng has reveled he is struggling to come to terms as to how the company he and others toiled to build two decades ago collapsed.

“In truth, my heart bleeds as I struggle to come to terms with the fact that the organization we toiled so hard to build over 20 years ceases to exist,” he said Thursday night in a statement issued to clarify some issues that emerged days ago in the aftermath of the bank’s collapse.

Mr. Amoabeng said the UT brand was guided by a vision of assisting Ghanaian businesses and individuals to achieve their aims, based on sound values, principles, and discipline.

He said they had always envisioned “growing this company into a steadfast, international, Ghanaian-owned company” but said unfortunately, that did not materialized.

“In our quest to support Ghanaian businesses and individuals, the company had challenges, and the central bank intervened,”.

The Bank of Ghana on Monday, August 14, 2017 revoked the licences of UT and Capital banks due to their insolvency, leading to a seamless takeover of the two banks by GCB Bank.

UT Bank, which was trading on the Ghana Stock Exchange, had its listing status also suspended.

Provisional figures showed the total liability of UT Bank stood at GHC850 million while its total assets was pegged at GHC112 million.

Mr. Amoabeng revealed he has been “deeply disturbed” by events that preceded the collapse of UT bank and what happened after the Bank of Ghana takeover, adding he has been saddened by the turn of events in the past few months.

UT brand ‘defamed’

“The actions so far taken by the central bank have adversely affected the operations of the remaining group of companies of UT,” he revealed.

He said once UT brand which was previously a super brand a few years ago, “has been totally defamed,” indicating that the situation has for instance led to difficulties in the servicing of payments due investors.



“More importantly to me today though, is the inability of several workers who once prided themselves as UT staff and now have little or nothing to show for their years of dedication and service; the negative impact on the other UT companies in the eyes of investors who believed in us and our vision to see a Ghanaian owned company become a successful global brand,” he said.

Investigations

Meanwhile, Mr. Amoabeng said would continue to co-operate with all state agencies probing the development for finality to be brought to this matter.