Private legal practitioner Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has mocked at Bolgatanga Central MP, Isaac Adongo, over, in his view, the lawmaker’s lack of understanding as far as the difference between an investment bank and a universal one, is concerned.

Following the merger of five local banks: The Royal Bank, BEIGE Bank, Sovereign Bank, The Construction Bank and uniBank, by the Bank of Ghana into Consolidated Bank, the opposition MP accused Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta of working together with the BoG and the Security and Exchange Commission, to collapse banks that are competing with Databank in the financial sector.

In the opposition lawmaker’s view, the move is an attempt to get rid of Databank’s competitors.

He said: “The Bank of Ghana, through the Security and Exchange Commission and Ken Ofori-Atta, ask them: What do they want in this world? People have fought and worked for their monies and he’s now using the regulatory architecture he has to fight his competitors.

“Don’t forget that UT Bank was one of the pacesetters in the very industry Databank operates, and he [Ofori-Atta] has collapsed it. The owner comes from Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region. The second one is BEIGE Bank, another shining star with the same structure also coming from the Eastern Region, is on the verge of collapse.

“uniBank, another company with similar structure and a competitor to Databank has gone down. How can he, Addison, be the one who issued the licence for Construction Bank only last year? Last year when he was issuing the licence, what was the minimum capital? What did he think was supposed to be the minimum capital that he went there and commissioned Construction Bank and one year down the line, he has collapsed that bank?

“He was the very person who issued the licence for BEIGE Bank only last year. He and the vice-president went to commission Construction Bank and BEIGE Bank and one year down the line, you say they don’t have adequate capital, only God will judge them.”

However, Mr Otchere-Darko, nephew of President Nana Akufo-Addo, posted a reaction to Mr Adongo on Facebook on Thursday, 2 August 2018, stating: “Adongo, I’m reliably informed, was a student of Ace Kojo Ankomah. Blame it on his teacher who failed to teach his student the difference between an investment bank and a universal or commercial bank. Blame Ace for not teaching Adongo that High Street banks, in fact, go to investment banks for money and that the two rather complement each other and are not straight competitors”.



Mr Ankomah later replied to Mr Otchere-Darko’s post thus: “There’s a vast difference between company law and banking law. Banks only come up in company law a couple of times for instance with reference to section 6 on the use of the word ‘bank’ in the names of companies, and with the power of BoG to cause the liquidation of banks. At the time the governing law was PNDCL225. That has since been repealed. I am not reaponsible for updating students’ knowledge after school. Having said that, Adongo is a very bright and intelligent man. I am very proud of him”.