Former Deputy BoG Governor is a 'disgrace' - George Andah

Deputy Communications Minister, George Andah has described former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Asiama as a "disgrace" to his "profession", following comments by the latter regarding government's launch of the first phase of the mobile money interoperability system.

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Thursday, May 10, 2018, launched the cross-network mobile money transactions system in Ghana.

Prior to that, at the University of Cape Coast when he spoke at the school’s Institutional Advancement Lecture last year, Dr Bawumia reportedly said: “There were many people who were offering similar solutions, but thankfully the BoG in collaboration with GhIPSS has finally been able to solve this problem and the interoperability system for Ghana will be launched next month.”

“What is even more remarkable about what has happened is that, again, a lot of people were quoting billions of dollars and it became an issue of public debate, but by the way, this system has now been built for less than $4 million dollars.”

But days after the launch, the former Deputy Governor of the BoG rebuffed claims that the interoperability contract awarded under the Mahama administration was overpriced.

At a press conference in Accra, Dr Asiama stressed that the new system launched by the Vice-President, is different in scope from the original contract; hence the disparity in the contract.

Interestingly, eventhough he conceded not having seen the scope of the current system launched by the Veep, the former deputy BoG Governor insisted it might not be as comprehensive as was envisaged under the original contract.

“I am out of office and I cannot say what is being done now but if I look at the details and scope of work in the original contract as stated here, it goes far beyond what was launched last week....It is like comparing antelope and an elephant…I am not sure the price will be same…” he said.

Contributing to a panel discussion on the subject on Peace FM's Kokrokoo, George Andah asked Dr. Asiama to "go back and get his facts right. He’s become a bit of a disgrace to himself and the profession…"

To him, the former BOG Governor is a big liar and is somehow used by his "paymasters" to "he’s confusing the good people of Ghana".

"He’s telling lies...He’s trying to confuse the good people of Ghana. He’s being used for something like this…He cannot be doing on his own”.