Amuana Praso (E/R), Dec. 3, GNA - Mr Ofori Owusu, a former chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mponua Rural Bank, has blamed the Bank of Ghana for the mismanagement of some rural banks because it failed to supervise their operations.

He said though the Bank of Ghana granted operating licenses to the rural banks after raising the required capital from its shareholders, it failed to ensure regular auditing of their accounts and allowed some management and board members to grant huge sums of loans to themselves, friends and spouses.

Mr Owusu said this at the 15th annual general meeting of Mponua rural bank at Amuana Praso in the Birim North District. He said as a result of mismanagement, most of the rural banks were in distress and could not pay dividends to their shareholders and the Bank of Ghana was rather advising them to merge with each other. Mr Owusu noted with concern that the Mponua Rural Bank was not able to pay dividends to its shareholders for the past 26 years due to mismanagement by past management and board of directors.

He said 58 cases of embezzlement and unauthorized granting of loans and loan defaulters involving some former management, staff and customers were pending at various courts at Nkawkaw, Mpraeso and Akyem Ofoase. Mr Owusu said most shareholders were refusing to increase their share holdings due to the inability of the banks to pay dividend for the investment they had made in the banks several years ago.

He advised the management, staff and board members of distress rural banks to forego some of their allowances for the banks to raise the required capital being demanded by the Bank of Ghana.