Dalex Finance Chief Executive Officer, Ken Thompson
Dalex Finance Chief Executive Officer, Ken Thompson has warned that the financial system risks being undermined due to delays in prosecuting people who may have caused the rots in the system that led to the collapse of about 7 banks in the last two years
Ken Thompson believes such a situation may, in the long run, have negative repercussion on other areas of the economy.
He is of the view that justice must be seen to be done and expects that some prosecutions should have been done by now to reaffirm public confidence that the wrong is being dealt with.
“For a system to function properly, people must believe that if there is wrong, there will be some destitution, there will be some justice and if justice is not delivered swiftly, it undermines the integrity of the system. For Ghana, this is a critical juncture. If justice is not done, it will affect other areas because the monies involved are huge. Trust me, if this were anywhere in the world by now everyone will be on the streets,” he detailed.
The Dalex CEO insisted the financial sector hasn’t recovered from the rots and reforms instituted by the Central Bank and is still engrossed in challenges.
Ken Thompson explained that the rot and financial challenges were as a result of ‘plain thievery’ and had nothing to do with ethics as some people suggest.
Government, according to him, have had to spend close to GHC8billion more than health and roads budget combined for the past two years to cushion depositors.
For that reason, he intimated that they should all be prosecuted and jailed if found guilty of falling foul of the laws.
“The financial system is in a very bad way. The government had to borrow over GHC8 billion to ensure that the system doesn’t collapse completely. And you have got to realise that this GHC8 billion is more than our health and roads budget for the last three years so it is a very serious matter. So the people that caused this, we shouldn’t glorify them to say they were unethical, they were thieves. It has nothing to do with ethics, they are thieves” Ken Thompson opined in an interview with the media after a programme held at the British Council.
The programme was organised by Arupe Jesuits Institute in collaboration with the Catholic Professional Guild on discuss the role of christian ethics in business and corporate world.
It brought together people from banking, insurance and financial industries, academia and students to share ideas and interact.
Ken Thompson suggested that to manage the situation, government would still have to issue bonds and develop transparent process of regulations and implementation of tougher laws and regulations.
