Protect deposits of Ghanaians – Akufo-Addo to GDPC Board

President Akufo-Addo has challenged the seven-member Board of the newly established Ghana Deposit Protection Corporation (GDPC) to do all within its power to protect the deposits of Ghanaians to avert the recurrence of the banking crisis that has bedeviled the country the last two years.

In his admonishing to the members of the Board of the Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS) after administering the Oaths of Office and Secrecy to them at the Jubilee House, President Akufo Addo stressed that the Corporation has come at a very sensitive time in the banking and financial sector of Ghana.

“The work that it is meant to do goes to the heart of the crisis that has engulfed the banking sector of our country so important responsibilities are being imposed on you,” President Akufo Addo said.

Chairperson of the DPS Board, Dr. Ernest Addison, in his response on behalf of his colleague board members to the call of the President indicated that they will be “relentless in driving the GDP to be a key pillar in securing financial stability in Ghana”.

“The Board of the Ghana Deposit Protection Corporation is up to the task of building an effective, credible and strong Deposit Protection Scheme for Ghana to achieve the Corporation’s principal objective of supporting the development of a safe, sound, efficient and stable market based financial system in Ghana,” Governor Ernest Addison said.

Members of the GDPC

The Board is chaired by the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Ernest Addison. The remaining six members are Mr. Pearl Ena-Mensah, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Deposit Protection Corporation, Sampson Akligoh, Representative of the Ministry of Finance, Rev. Mrs. Patricia Sapporo, Representative of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. The rest are Mr. Joseph Hyde Jnr, Representative of the Association of Ghana Industries, Mr. George Amissah Jnr., Representative of the Ghana Bar Association and Dr. Daniel Seddoh, Representative of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana.

The Ghana Deposit Protection Scheme

The Ghana Deposit Protection Scheme was established by the Ghana Deposit Protection Act, 2016, Act 931 as amended by the Ghana Deposit Protection (Amendment) Act, 2018, (Act 968). The scheme seeks to protect a small depositor from loss incurred by the depositor as a result of the occurrence of an insured event. The object of the scheme is to support the development of a safe, sound, efficient and stable market-based financial system in Ghana, by ensuring prompt payouts to insured depositors on the occurrence of an insured event.

Ghana’s Deposit Protection Scheme was conceived based on feasibility studies conducted in the year 2012 and with collaboration between the Bank of Ghana and the Government of Ghana. Financial support and technical assistance was also provided by the German Government through KfW, a German state-owned development bank. Ghana’s Deposit Protection Scheme is a pay box and became operational by end of September 2019. Ghana’s Deposit Protection Scheme has a two-fund structure; Fund A, from which reimbursements of depositors of banks shall be made, and Fund B, from which reimbursements of depositors of Specialized Deposit Taking Institutions shall be made.