Liquidation is "uncalled for" - BHC, Co-operative staff

Accra (Greater Accra), 18th January 2000 A cross section of staff of the Bank for Housing and Construction (BHC) and the Co-operative Bank Ghana Limited (CBGL), whose liquidation was announced on Monday have described the action of government as "uncalled for."

They said prior to the announcement there was no indication in their operations that they were bankrupt to warrant liquidation.

The staff, most of whom appeared to be in shock about the action, had thronged the Ministry of Communications, where a news conference had been called by shareholders of the two banks.

After a two-hour wait, Mr. John Mahama, Minister of Communications, announced the postponement of the conference to a time later in the day.

The aggrieved staff said that given the reason cited for the closure of the Banks, the A-Life scandal, liquidation should not have been the result.

Mr. Ben Amegatcher, Chairman of the Professional and Managerial Staff Union of the BHC, said considering the amount involved in the A-Life saga it would have been a natural occurrence for the Bank to collapse.

"However, business is thriving. We made a profit of three billion cedis last year while within the last two weeks we have had lots of depositors bringing in millions. Our deposit base has more than doubled since the scandal and is now standing at 86 billion cedis."

Mr. Amegatcher said the A-Life matter has rendered the supervisory role of the BOG suspect, in that it approved cheques from Kumasi, without questioning the source and the huge amounts involved, reported to exceed 100 billion cedis.

He suggested a "worker buy-out" scheme where staff would be allowed to own shares and run the Bank.

"We think the BHC is viable and with the kind of dedication and job consciousness we believe the Bank could be a source of pride for the nation in the next 12 months."

A staff of CBGL said the issue of liquidation is unfounded since the government, through the Financial Sector Adjustment Programme (FINSAP), had given them a "clean slate" to continue with their transactions.

In another development, one of the BHC staff told newsmen that BOG officials had in the morning, gone to branches outside Accra to empty the vaults.