ADB Suspends Loans

-Bank at the mercy of merciless ‘stealers’

MD, Stephen Kpordzih Nana Soglo Alloh 1V, Board Chair, ADB

The bleeding of the state-owned Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) is still continuing unabated despite incessant revelations of wrongdoing including corruption, sleaze and crony capitalism by this newspaper.

The latest revelation from The aL-hAJJ sources is that the Bank has suspended granting loans to its staff due to liquidity crisis facing the beleaguered bank.

Government, board and management of the Bank have been nonchalant to the numerous allegations of corruption, sleaze and crony capitalism that seem to have brought the bank on its knees despite genuine attempts to revive the bank under the first term of the NDC government, led by the late Prof Atta Mills.

A recent internal memo issued by the management of ADB dated August 21, 2014, and intercepted by The aL-hAJJ stated “management wishes to bring to the attention of all staff that, the bank is currently constrained on two key elements of its financial performance indices, namely capital adequacy and liquidity ratios, and has therefore been compelled to take urgent steps to ensure the stability of the bank.”

“In view of these constrains, it has become necessary to suspend the granting of all staff loans. This is being done as part of the general measures to manage the bank’s total loan book, in order to improve these key aspects of the bank’s risk profile.

“As the bank prepares for listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange, it is necessary to ensure that these critical ratios are improved significantly, in order to attract the required market response.

“We shall continue to monitor the situation regularly and resume the granting of staff loans when we record an appreciable level of improvement in these key ratios,” the memo concluded.

The memo was jointly authored by one Akwelley Adoley Bulley and the managing director of the bank, Mr. Stephen Kpordzih.

The workers of the bank who are at the receiving end of this gargantuan corruption have sworn to protect the bank against further rape by the top management members.

The aL-hAJJ has gathered that over the past six months, there have been secret meetings among the working population of the bank to brainstorm on how they could stage a mutiny against the top management of the bank whose alleged corrupt activities have resulted in the virtual collapse of the bank in just three years after some huge injections of capital by the Atta Mills led NDC government.

A senior staff (name withheld) described as smokescreen attempts by the bank to list on Ghana Stock Exchange warning that unless immediate remedial measures are taken to salvage the dwindling fortunes of the bank, disaster will strike soon.

According to sources close to the senior and junior staff, ADB has virtually been rundown and now it’s having serious liquidity challenges as a result of which the bank is unable to meet workers’ demands like granting of car, housing and other welfare loans.

“Can you imagine that a bank that was about to be listed on the stock market can’t afford the privileges of its workers? The situation has gone from bad to worse due to management’s excuse of no money” a senior staff member told The aL-hAJJ.

Ironically, while the senior and junior staff workers struggle to make ends meet, documents cited by this paper show how top management members are living lavish lives to the extent that they can afford to line their pockets with fat bonuses ranging from GHC 180,000 to GHC380, 000, (more on these soon).

Because of its liquidity challenges, our sources alleged that top managers of ADB have resorted to selling the bank’s properties to pay “their fat salaries and bonuses while we the ordinary staff suffer…we will let the public know about their bad deeds in the coming days.”

“Our regional office in Accra was recently sold for $10 million, other properties in Kumasi, Tamale, Sunyani and other regions are being sold. And do you know the irony of this, after selling the properties they rent offices at exorbitant prices. Look, these people are just bent on collapsing the bank to give the president a bad name. That was what they did to Merchant bank…they are a cartel and they want to repeat the same here, but we won’t allow it,” the source noted.

The source added “Because they want to cover up for their mismanagement in order for it not to be identified at this early stage, they cook figures to paint a good picture about the performance of the bank, but I can tell you that ADB is in mess and very soon the same people parroting its success story will be calling for it privatization.” For the past three weeks Te aL-hAJJ has been raising issues of unbridled corruption and naked robbery at ADB. However, some demented and misguided elements within the media fraternity have taken us on, describing our stories on ADB as ethnically motivated and targeted at certain ethnic groups. To us at The aL-hAJJ, this is not only preposterous but also childish.

How can any-body in his right senses accuse this paper of having an ethnic agenda against any segment of the Ghanaian population much less supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)?

If they think by talking about ethnicity we would keep quiet and allow the rot to continue at ADB or any state agency then they must have a second though. We will continue to expose the rot at ADB and any state-owned agency that we have evidence of corruption and mismanagement. Is a duty and responsibility from the good people of Ghana and we would not run away from that. No amount of amateurish journalism from those misguided elements will sway us from this noble path of service to the people of Ghana.