Minority demands budget for new BoG head office
The Minority in Parliament has asked the Governor of the central bank, Dr. Ernest Addison to furnish the caucus with spending commitments of its new head office building.
The central bank’s new head office building has gained currency following the release of the bank’s 2022 Published Annual Report and Financial Statements.
In a letter, under Section 18 of the Right to Information Act 2019(Act 989) and signed by the NDC MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga on the instruction of minority Chief Whip Kwame Governs Agbodza, he is seeking information comprising processes involved in the procurement of materials for the construction of the new headquarters building of the Bank of Ghana currently under construction at Ridge in Accra and the contractors involved in the construction, names of consultants and project managers.
Others include; the cost, scope of works, bill of quantities, and contract start and completion dates of the new headquarters building of the Bank of Ghana currently under construction at Ridge in Accra.
Further, he is also seeking to know how the land on which the new headquarters building of the Bank of Ghana is currently under construction at Ridge in Accra was procured and at what price or under what arrangement, and from who.
For the lawmakers from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the BoG has not properly briefed the House on this expenditure.
BoG justification
The central bank had explained in a statement that a structural integrity assessment it conducted revealed that its current Head Office building is no longer “fit for purpose” and could not stand any major earth tremors.
According to the Bank of Ghana, unlike its current BoG Head Office building, built by the Nkrumah Government in the early 1960s, the new Head Office can stand major earth tremors.
It said “The outcome of the structural integrity work was that the main building does not satisfy the full complement of excess strength required for a building to be considered safe for usage. This means that in the case of a worst-case gravity and wind loading scenario, for example, unusually strong wind, the building may be significantly affected.
“The building also does not have the required strength to withstand the expected imposed significant earthquake loads that would be expected to occur in the Accra area. Based on the above, and looking at the strategic objective of positioning Ghana as the financial hub of the sub-region, with prospects of a potential Headquarters for a future regional Central Bank.
