Banking collapse ‘most destructive event in Ghana’s economy’ – ASEPA's Mensah Thompson

Mensah Thompson, Executive Director, Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has indicated that the collapse of the banking sector in 2018 was destructive to Ghana’s economy to the extent that not even the coup d’etats that the country had experienced did.

According to him, the banking sector being the engine of the country’s economy has been the only

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“The collapse of banks that happened in 2018 was the single most destructive event in the history of the economy of Ghana. I don’t remember anything that has happened in the country that has destroyed our economy than the banking sector clean-up.

“Not even the coup d’états in the country has been able to have such a huge negative impact on the economy. The banking sector is the engine of the economy. In every system, when the government wants to create wealth for his people, it uses the banking sector,” Mensah Thompson said while speaking on Accra FM’s morning show on August 24, 2022.

He stated that there is nowhere in the world that when banks are going down in terms of generating revenue, the government collapses them as a solution.

“There is nowhere in this world that government will collapse banks that are struggling. The government only invest to cushion the banks with just US$10 billion but that would not be free…it will be in a form of buying shares in these companies so the government will get a representative on the board of these banks to ensure that the banks are doing the right thing.

"No rational person will go and borrow $22 billion to solve a problem which the solution requires just US$9 billion. These are the problems that someday someone will answer, even if it gets to hundred years, someone needs to answer [questions on it]. If we are to exhume the bodies of some individuals, we have to do so and put their bodies before the court.

"People are given posthumous awards or promotions, we will be given some people posthumous prosecution, posthumous judgement, and posthumous conviction. We need to get a cemetery at Nsawam and those that have been convicted posthumously will be buried there…We need not to take whatever that has happened for granted…," Mensah Thompson stressed.

Background

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) revoked the licenses of 347 insolvent microfinance companies.

The shut down took effect on May 31, 2019.

The licences of 192 of them were revoked in addition to that of another 155 that have ceased operations.

Some of the collapsed banks included Unibank Ghana Ltd, The Royal Bank LTD, Beige Bank LTD, Sovereign Bank LTD, and Construction Bank LTD

PEN/SARA