The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Henry Kofi Wampah, will officially exit office today [Thursday], after three years in charge of the central bank.
Dr. Wampah announced on Tuesday that he will step down on Thursday, five clear months before his tenure ends.
[contextly_sidebar id=”XbPk676rbGhDirv8SfOLx9ih3KAwQC43″]He has been criticized for overseeing the continuous depreciation of the cedi and his failure to check the mushrooming of dubious micro finance companies.
Some industry players have also jumped to his defense and said executed his mandate creditably.
His early exit has however caused political watchers to put a spin on the decision with some claiming he was forced out.
But a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Emmanuel Asiedu Mantey, thinks Dr Wampah took the right decision.
“Honestly I don’t see anything peculiar. If I read the explanation right, what he said was that he had accumulated leave so he decides to take accumulated leave prior to retirement, there is nothing unusual about that. He could have waited till August and decide to go on retirement in which case the bank would have paid him money for the leave that he didn’t take or he has a choice to take the leave prior to retirement which is what he has done.”
On why the Dr. Wampah would want to exit the apex bank in a crucial election year, Mr. Mantey said “I’m not in his mind and I don’t know why he is linking his retirement to an election. That I don’t understand and I don’t intent to hazard any guess.”
I’ve no sour relationship with Wampah
Vice President Kwesi Amissah Arthur has disputed claims that his relationship with the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Kofi Wampah turned sour over the years, and that affected the management of the economy.
The Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei has said the bad blood between the outgoing Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor, Dr. Henry Kofi Wampah, and the Vice President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, contributed to the former’s unimpressive tenure as governor, which, according to the MP, is partly to blame for his exit from the bank.
But the Vice President, a former Governor of the Bank, who worked with Dr. Wampah, in response said Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei’s claim is a fabrication and should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
–
By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana