Opinions of Saturday, 11 February 2017

Columnist: Dabbousi, Fadi

The MD of GCB, Ernest Mawuli Agbesi – Ghanaians need answers

By Fadi Dabbousi

Mr Ernest Mawuli Agbesi, the current Managing Director of the Ghana Commercial Bank will not be left to go scot-free without making public declarations on the issues of hundreds of millions of Ghana Cedis in unsecured loans. You see, the Ghana Commercial Bank is neither an NGO nor a Charity House. It is a government business entity that is entrusted with the opportunity of growing the nation’s, and other people’s, moneys/investments. That should be enough justification for the extra care that Agbesi needs to exercise in handling the affairs of the bank.
I do understand that every job comes with its challenges, but to say that Ernest Mawuli Agbesi did not cause financial losses to the stakeholders involved is like saying that Virgin Mary did not give birth to Jesus Christ, according to many anonymous employees of GCB, and the NIB before he was packed away from there. I am inclined to believe same to be the holy truth. After sifting through the list of unsecured loans that have been left unsettled till date, some being outstanding for years, I am not only convinced that he failed in discharging his duties as former Managing Director of National Investment Bank, but also as the current Managing Director of the Ghana Commercial Bank.

Every unsecured loan is a recipe for financial losses. Every unsecured loan is an albatross around the necks of poor people trying to survive in a difficult world, especially ours. The little savings that they deposit in the bank are at risk due to the undiligent exercise of powers wielded by Mr Ernest Agbesi. I have no doubt in my mind that given the numerous stories of willful negligence and machinations to run the bank down, his presence at the helm of affairs is yet the biggest risk that GCB has to contend with.
We demand that he be sacked immediately! We demand that he be made to face the music at EOCO and the Police CID until the office of the private prosecutor becomes fully functional. Failure to uproot the canker would send the wrong signal to investors, depositors, and shareholders of the bank that we in Ghana are not serious. The repercussions of our insouciance in this matter would not only stall the growth of the bank, but reverse every appreciable gain chocked in the various aspects of financial management by the Bank of Ghana, which saw rough days under the administration of the NDC that numerous people know Agbesi to be a member of (card bearing or not).

Let us begin to the right things in this country. It is not only Kofi Adams who should be arrested and questioned by the CID for allegedly stealing government property, like what happened a couple of days ago, but Agbesi, his surrogates, and all those who were charged with the responsibility of manning the institutions of government, too. #SackAgbesiNow #EOCOInviteAgbesiForQuestioning