The Bank of Ghana is being sued by private legal practitioner, Dr John Ephraim Baiden on the continuous depreciation of the cedi.
The cedi depreciated by over 27 per cent against the dollar in the first six months of this year.
Dr Ephraim Baiden hurled the BoG to the Supreme Court for failing to stabilize the cedi seeking a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article Article 183(2)(a) of the constitution which says “The Bank of Ghana shall promote and maintain the stability of the currency of Ghana and direct and regulate the currency system in the interest of the economic progress of Ghana”, and Section 4(b) of the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002, which says the central bank “shall promote by monetary measures the stabilization of the value of the currency within and outside Ghana.” the BoG has neither promoted nor maintained a stable currency for Ghana.
The Bank of Ghana in reaction to the suit filed a writ of preliminary objection to strike out the suit, indicating the Supreme Court is not the forum to address the issue.
The Court was supposed to rule on the preliminary objection on Tuesday but couldn’t because BoG had not submitted its statement of case to defend the suit and thus gave the central bank 2 weeks to prepare its defense.
Dr. Baiden said, “They need to file their defense. If they have delivered a stable currency for the country, they should be able to speak to that. Their record speaks for itself. Their record is a record beyond comprehension. It is not central banking when it comes to managing our currency. They are not practicing central banking, they are practicing central destruction”, he said
According to him, “I have a case because, it is so clear that they are in breach of the constitution and also in breach of their legal operating framework which is the Bank of Ghana Act 2002.”
Business World (with notes from citifmonline)