Gov't would not force divestiture of GCB on Ghanaians - Kufuor

Accra, Aug.7, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday said government would back out and not insist on the divestiture of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) if Ghanaians would not agree to such a decision. He said; "government will not force for the divestiture of the GCB if the people will not agree it will back out".

President Kufuor said this when addressing a durbar of chiefs and people of Osu Traditional Area as part of his four-day tour of the Greater Accra Region.

He recounted the tremendous assistance the Bank had offered the country since its inception about 50 years ago and referred to the bailing out of the Tema Oil Refinery, when it entered into a financial crunch and the internationally acclaimed banks left it in the lurch. He said government's decision to divest part of his 46.8 per cent shares in the Bank was to deepen its operations in order that it could access more money both from within and on the international market for its operations.

President Kufuor said the divestiture would require a strategic partner with a global network in banking to enable the GCB access credit enough to be abreast with the current trends in international banking. Last Wednesday, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance said government would make a final decision on the divestiture of the Bank on Friday, August 15 after it had studied a report presented to government on its divestiture.

He was receiving the report of the technical committee set up to examine the various options of the intended sale.

The Committee, with Dr Samuel Nii Noi Ashong, a Minister of State in Charge of Finance and Economic Planning as Chairman, sat for almost a month.

The divestiture, which has attracted a lot of interest both within and outside the country, seeks to secure a first class bank with international linkages and ability to source adequate investment funds from a strategic investor.

The move is also to modernize the Bank, improve efficiency and service delivery as well as expand the quality of its loan portfolio. But different sections of the public, including the management and employees of GCB, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and some opinion leaders have expressed dissatisfaction with government's position to turn the Bank into a private entity.

The public owns 53.2 per cent of the Bank's shares while the government holds the remaining 46.8 per cent.