Addison Likens Occupy BoG Protesters To “Hooligans”

The Governor of Ghana’s Central Bank, Dr Ernest Addison has reviled the recent Occupy BoG protest which called for his head likening it to hooliganism.

According to him, the protest was “unnecessary” while he deems the protesters “hooligans”.

He, therefore, has no intention of acceding to the demands of the Minority, he told Central Banking, an international news portal that reports on Central Banks.

He indicated that the Minority in Parliament who spearheaded the demonstration could have used the right channels to deliver their concerns but overlooked them all for hooliganism.

“The demonstration yesterday was completely unnecessary. The Minority (MPs) in Parliament have many channels to channel their grievances in civilised societies, not through demonstrations in the streets as hooligans.”

Protest
The Minority in Parliament was joined by Civil Society Organizations (CSO), Progressive Forces as well as thousands of protesters on October 3 to demand the resignation of top officials of the Central Bank including Governor Addison. This was after they defied an ultimatum to resign in August.

The groups protested against the Central Bank’s alleged illegal printing of about GH¢ 80 billion between 2021 and 2022 which they say contributed to an inflation rate of 54.1% in December 2022.

Additionally, they registered their disapproval at the reported GHC 60.8 billion loss incurred by the Bank in 2022 which has sent it into an over GH¢50billion negative equity position.

Addison Absence
The protest though peaceful, was short of expectations as the Governor failed to show up for the petition of the protesters.

He sent out a man who identified himself as Kwame Asare Boateng, the Director of Security at the BoG to do it on his behalf.

According to him, Mr Addison was in a meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and could not avail himself for it- an excuse that infuriated the leadership to return home with the petition.

The Minority Leader in Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson, called it disrespect to the people of Ghana as he insisted on handing the petition out to him in person.

“We will not present our petition. We will go and come back again. We will come back again. We will come back and demand to see him in person. The crowd you’ve seen is just the beginning…It he thinks that the IMF is more important than the people of Ghana, {we will make him know} he is here because of the people of Ghana. We will come after him. Until we see him, we not stop.”