uniBank, UT collapse: Speaker to set up 7-member committee

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, is to set up a seven-member committee to look into a petition by a former Governor of Bank of Ghana, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, over the collapse of uniBank.

The petition, which was laid by Bawku Central lawmaker, Mahama Ayariga, was challenged by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who argued the matter was before a court.

The Speaker, however, overruled Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu’s assertion.

The former Chief Executive of defunct UT Bank, Prince Kofi Amoabeng and majority shareholder of defunct uniBank Ghana Limited, Dr Duffuor, want Parliament to probe the revocation of their licences by the Bank of Ghana.

Below are their reliefs:

UT Bank

i) Investigate the conduct of the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Stock Exchange for the revocation of UT Bank’s licence and delisting the bank without due regard to the rules of Administrative Justice guaranteed under Article 23 of the 1992 Constitution.

ii) Direct the restoration of the banking licence of UT Bank Limited by the Bank of Ghana and the remedying of the harms done the shareholders’ property rights as a result of the conduct of the Bank of Ghana.

uniBank

i) Investigate the conduct of the Bank of Ghana in the takeover, appointment of an Official Administrator of uniBank Ghana Limited and the circumstances surrounding the revocation of the banking licence of uniBank Ghana Limited;

ii) Direct the restoration of the banking licence of uniBank Ghana Limited by the Bank of Ghana and the remedying of the harms done the shareholders’ property rights as a result of the conduct of the Bank of Ghana.

The Bank of Ghana in August 2018 announced the revocation of the licences of five banks and put them together as Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited.

The banks were uniBank Ghana Limited, The Royal Bank Limited, Beige Bank Limited, Sovereign Bank Limited, and Construction Bank Limited and appointed Nii Amanor Dodoo of KPMG as the Receiver for the five banks.

Prior to the amalgamation of the five banks, the Central Bank had closed down UT Bank and Capital Bank in August 2017