- Central Bank Escalates Campaign Against Money Bouquets with Arrests in Accra
The Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Police Service have arrested seven people in Accra for allegedly using cedi banknotes to produce and sell money bouquets and money cakes, escalating the central bank’s campaign against the commercial misuse of the national currency.
The suspects were apprehended at different locations following investigations into businesses that allegedly folded, arranged or otherwise handled cedi notes as decorations for weddings, birthdays, graduations and other celebrations.
Dinah Bonzi, Head of the Statistics Office at the Bank of Ghana’s Currency Management Department, said the suspects would be processed for prosecution, with possible sanctions including fines or imprisonment.
“The Bank of Ghana wishes to issue a warning to the general public for using banknotes and coins to create money bouquets, money cakes for weddings, for birthdays, for graduations and other similar events, which constitutes the misuse and abuse of the currency and is illegal and unlawful,” she said.
The arrests mark a shift from public warnings to direct enforcement against a commercial practice that has become increasingly visible across social media and at public celebrations.
Money bouquets typically involve folding, rolling, attaching or arranging banknotes into flower-like displays. Money cakes similarly use currency notes as decorative elements around structures resembling cakes.
While supporters regard the products as creative gifts, the central bank argues that their production can involve folding, stapling, gluing or otherwise damaging legal tender, reducing the useful life of the notes and increasing currency-replacement costs.
The enforcement action is likely to have an immediate effect on event planners, gift shops and online vendors that advertise money bouquets and similar products.
The Bank of Ghana said liability would not be limited to individuals who physically create the decorations. People who aid, promote or facilitate the practice could also face enforcement action.
“Following today’s arrest on the alleged abuse of the Ghana currency, the bank wants to clearly state that persons found engaging in, aiding, promoting or facilitating such acts will be arrested and prosecuted by the appropriate law enforcement agencies,” Ms Bonzi said.
This broad warning could potentially cover businesses that manufacture the products, customers who commission them and other parties that knowingly facilitate their commercial sale.
The seven suspects have not yet been convicted, and the allegations against them will have to be established through the judicial process.
Investigations are continuing, after which the individuals are expected to be put before a court.
“From here they will be prosecuted,” Ms Bonzi said. “Fines or even imprisonment according to the Act.”
The enforcement operation follows a public notice issued by the Bank of Ghana in July warning against the use of currency notes for bouquets, decorations, jewellery or artistic displays.
The central bank said the cedi was issued as legal tender and should not be subjected to practices that could alter, mutilate or damage it.
It has also cautioned against spraying money at social events, scattering notes on the ground, stepping on currency, writing on banknotes and deliberately tearing, staining or crumpling them.
Previous guidance linked such conduct to prohibitions under Ghana’s currency laws, including the Currency Act, 1964.
“The Ghana cedi is a legal tender of the Republic of Ghana and must be treated with respect,” Ms Bonzi said. “The misuse or abuse of the currency is an offence and may attract sanctions under the law.”
The central bank’s concern is not merely symbolic. Damaged banknotes can become unsuitable for circulation, forcing commercial banks to withdraw them and the Bank of Ghana to bear the cost of replacement.
The lifespan of currency is partly determined by how the public handles it. When otherwise usable notes are punctured, glued, stapled or heavily folded for decorative purposes, their premature replacement imposes an avoidable cost on the monetary system.
The arrests send a strong warning, but the central bank will need to maintain clear public guidance on where lawful gifting ends and prohibited currency abuse begins.
Giving cash to another person is not inherently unlawful. The regulatory concern appears to arise when notes are altered, damaged, transformed into decorations or handled in ways inconsistent with their function as legal tender.
That distinction matters because public enforcement is more effective when citizens and businesses understand the specific conduct that constitutes an offence.
Alternative products could allow vendors to retain the visual appeal of money bouquets without physically manipulating currency. Gift vouchers, mobile-money transfers, symbolic notes or removable currency holders could provide substitutes that do not damage legal tender.
The Bank of Ghana said the latest arrests should be taken as evidence that its warnings will now be enforced.
“Today’s arrest should serve as a clear warning to the public,” Ms Bonzi said. “Let us all handle the Ghana cedi with dignity.”
