The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) believes it could recover over GH₵7 million in investment locked up in the defunct GN Bank.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Ray Ankrah disclosed that COCOBOD has accepted the defunct bank’s liability, validated its asset and it is hopeful of recovering its investment.
“We have validated it, liability has been accepted. There has not been any indication suggesting that they cannot pay or something, so it is not a capacity issue we think, it’s a timing issue.“Mr. Chairman, we remain hopeful,” he told the Committee.
The Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana in 2015 invested GH₵7.5 million in the name of Provident and Rent Funds with the GN bank.
The GN Bank collapsed following the banking sector clean-up with individuals and organisations, including government institutions bearing the brunt of having investment funds unrecovered.
The 2020 report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana – Public Boards, Corporations, and other Statutory Institutions, however, revealed that the investment was locked up due to the liquidation of the bank.
‘’Our review of the Institute’s investment portfolio file disclosed that an amount totalling GH¢7,472,504.22 in the name of Provident and Rent Funds invested since 2015 with GN Bank have been locked up due to the liquidation of the bank,” the A-G’s report noted.
The report added that COCOBOD could lose the amount involved if stringent measures are not taken to recover the same.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, James Klutse Avedzi is uncertain if such an amount could be recovered.
“You know that the receiver will only be able to raise the money through the sale of the properties of the company. If they are not able to lay their hands on any asset of the company and dispose of, they will not be able to raise the money to pay…I have my doubts that this banking sector clean-up has brought a lot to individuals and even the government itself,” he said at the Committee hearing on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
