The Majority and the Minority caucuses in Parliament yesterday took divergent positions over the decision by the Committee of the Whole to hold a closed-door meeting with the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, in the House.
The Minority Caucus said the decision was a move by the Majority Caucus to stop the Governor from admitting on record that it was as a result of the domestic gold programme, initiated by the previous administration, that the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) had chalked up some forex successes to stabilise the economy.
Besides, it said, the decision was also to prevent the media from covering the Governor’s response on how much forex the central bank had injected into the economy since January 7, 2025 and the extra losses it had incurred.
But the Majority Caucus said there was nothing to hide in terms of what the Governor was going to say, adding that “it is only this Governor who actually answers to our invitations”.
The caucus, however, admitted that the move was to prevent the Governor from disclosing sensitive information about Ghana’s finances that could hurt the economy.
Why in Parliament?
Dr Asiama had appeared in the House to answer questions by the Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, over the source of the forex being used for the foreign exchange market intervention.
Dr Asiama was also due to respond to a question on what framework for foreign exchange market intervention was currently being used by the central bank, as well as how much foreign intervention had been undertaken by the BoG since January 7 last year.
While the Governor was billed to read out the answers to the questions, as advertised on the Order Paper for the day, in the Chamber, the Committee of the Whole decided to allow Dr Asiama address the House without the presence of the press.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, MP for Ofoase-Ayirebi, addressing the press on behalf of the Minority in Parliament
Unhappy with such decision by the committee, the Minority walked out of the Chamber to address the press, accusing the Majority Caucus of helping the Governor to “hide the truth about financial figures”.
Nothing is secret
Mr Oppong Nkrumah, who addressed the press on behalf of the Minority, said as a result of the Majority’s decision not to allow the press to cover the answers by the Governor, they decided not to participate in the deliberation.
He said the responses of the Governor to his questions had already been published in the Order Paper, stressing that “they are matters that are not secret”.
He said the BoG said since August 2024, it had not undertaken direct market interventions, as its forex operations did not draw on the central bank's reserves.
Instead, the bank had said that its forex intermediation had been executed through the domestic gold purchase programme.
“The Bank of Ghana is here to admit that the ability to intervene on the market is as a result of the domestic gold purchase programme, and that what they are doing is that they are mobilising forex proceeds from the domestic gold purchase programme, and those are the forex proceeds that they are using for market intervention,” Mr Oppong Nkrumah said.
He said the Majority feared that allowing the Governor to speak at the plenary would glaringly clear that the person responsible for forex successes chalked by the GoldBod was former Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
“Is that the reason for which they are clearing the media from the gallery so that they will continue to peddle the story to the Ghanaian public that it is because of GoldBod and some superior strategies that they have introduced?” he quizzed.
Nothing to be afraid of
The Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, said the practice of the House was for members to engage in closed-door meeting with independent constitutional bodies, including the BoG.
He said for independent bodies, they were not heard at the plenary, and “we do not do it before the cameras”.
He said Order 266 required that meetings of committees, including Committee of the Whole, shall be held publicly except otherwise determined by the committee.
He said he asked the Minority to convince the committee to sit at the plenary, but the Minority failed to do so and rather opted to walk out, abandoning the questions to be asked.
“With the Governor himself knowing that there would be journalists, he ensured that his answers were captured in a press release, and was willing to share with them.
“So, I want you to know that there is nothing that the Governor is afraid of answering in public, but it is just that I believe that we must adhere to our rules,” Mr Ayariga said.
