AfDB Exposed In Major Cover-Up Attempt For Govt

It has turned out that the denial by the African Development Bank (AfDB) that Ghana was never sanctioned by the bank was part of a major scheme to cover up the truth from Ghanaians, as two documents from the bank has indeed proven that Ghana was sanctioned by the bank for failing to settle its bills with the bank. 

The exposure of the bank, after the appearance of the documents, comes after a spirited attempt by the bank and officials of the John Mahama government to deny the issue after it was first raised by Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who in his lecture -- titled ‘IMF Bailout – Will the Anchor Hold?’ -- revealed for the first time that Ghana had recently been sanctioned by the AfDB, a development which ensured that Ghana joined the likes of Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Sudan and Somalia on the sanctions list. 

The AfDB issued a statement saying Ghana’s inclusion was a mistake which took place on February 18, 2015.

This could not be true because Dr Bawumia has produced an internal memo dated February 17, 2015 in which various directors of the AfDB were informed of the list of sanctioned countries as at January 31, 2015, a list which included Ghana. 

The second document which seems to have settled the matter is a letter from the AfDB’s Loan Accounting Division dated February 18, 2015 which notified government that Ghana had been sanctioned for failing to pay up its bills. 

The letter, which had as attachment of many sheets detailing Ghana’s accounts with the bank, was titled ;APPLICATION OF SANCTIONS - ARREARS ON BILLS DUE ON JANUARY 1, 2015,’ and was addressed to the Ministry of Finance through the Director of the Debt Management Division of the Ministry, Samuel D. Ameyaw. 

According to the accounts, Ghana owed a total of 968, 620.73 UAC (Unit of Accounts) as at February 1, 2015, based on which Ghana had to be sanctioned until it paid up. 

The UAC or Unit of Account is a virtual currency used by the AfDB for accounting purposes in its dealings with states. One UAC, according to records of the bank, was equivalent to US$1.4 or GH¢4.6 in February when the sanctions were imposed and government informed. 

The rate of the UAC to the dollar and cedi means that Ghana owed over $1.3 million or some GH¢4.5 million to the bank as at February.