Those responsible for banking crisis will be punished ‘if evidence is found’ - Nana Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured that persons whose actions led to the collapse of some financial institutions will face the wrath of the courts "if evidence of criminality is found".

Speaking at the 2019 Ghana Bar Conference in Takoradi on Monday, the president was optimistic that the perpetrators whose actions have caused a lot of pain to depositors as well as financial loss to the state, won't go scot-free if evidence is found against them.

"I am expectant that the criminal conduct, if any, of those responsible for the banking crisis, which is undergoing detailed scrutiny, will be brought to justice, very soon, if prima facie evidence of criminality is found, which according to my information, is likely".

Ghana’s banking sector is currently in crisis over the collapse of seven local banks within one year. The banks are UT and Capital Bank, both of which have been taken over by the state-owned GCB Bank.

The others are Beige Bank, Sovereign Bank, Construction Bank, uniBank, and Royal Bank, all of which have been consolidated into the Consolidated Bank of Ghana.

The decision to collapse all the banks were primarily because they had all become highly insolvent as a result of various reasons including poor corporate governance decisions.

The receiver of uniBank and the five other banks recently sued all 17 shareholders of uniBank over the repayment of a GHC 5.7 billion debt.

The GHC 5.7 billion debt, according to the receiver, was left by the shareholders.