President John Dramani Mahama has called on Members of Parliament to fast track the Ghana Deposit Protection bill to protect small depositors’ funds.
Mr. Mahama made the call on Thursday when he delivered his last State of the Nation address to Ghana’s lawmakers in Accra.
The Ghanaian leader was speaking about the situation where depositors who serve as clients of some micro finance companies have lost their money due to lack of supervision on the part of gate keepers including the Bank of Ghana.
President Mahama blamed the authorities of the Central Bank for their ineffective supervision which paves the way for licensed micro finance companies to breach the rules of procedure.
He sighted DKM micro finance company whose depositors were lured with a deal to maximise their deposits by 50- 55% but have ended up being duped up to 77 million Ghana Cedis.
The President also bemoaned the sad situation where many depositors have lost their life savings and their livelihoods, insisting that clients deserve total protection and supervisory regimes by the Central bank.
Mr. Mahama charged the central bank to reimburse legitimate customers of their original deposit. He is also calling for a broader solution that would permanently sanitise and restore credibility to the micro finance industry and strengthen the Bank of Ghana’s supervision.
He explained the need for Parliament to fast-track the Ghana Deposit Protection bill to protect small depositors funds in the future to avoid a similar situation like DKM.
Credit: Noah Dameh
