Details emerging from the Bank of Ghana (BoG), reveal the negotiated resignation of Dr. Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku, as Governor, three years ahead of his four-year mandate caused the taxpayer GH¢3,204 million.
Insiders have told The Herald that, the Akufo-Addo government, has since effected the mouthwatering payment to the ex-Governor of the Central Bank, who was forced to leave office effective April 1, 2017, and hand over to Dr. Ernest Kwamina Yedu Addison, same day.
Dr. Issahaku’s monthly salary was revealed as GH¢89,000 and having been pressured by the Akufo-Addo government to step down, he was to collect the rest of his three-year salary, had he served his four-year mandate or else head to the court with wrongful termination of appointment.
His successor, Dr. Addison is also currently collecting salaries. Baring any increment, his 48-month term of office will cost the people of Ghana GH¢4,272 million.
This means the removal of the Governor of Bank of Ghana as a result of the change of government, has led to the country paying double what it would have paid had Dr. Issahaku remain in office as happened in the case of Dr. Paul Acquah in 2009 under the John Evans Atta Mills administration.
The replacement of the BoG boss is going to cost the nation GH¢7,476 million in the next 4 years. It is unclear, if Dr. Issahaku, was entitled to an end of service benefit and if the Akufo-Addo government has given him that package as well.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Old Tafo in the Ashanti Region and Minister of Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, had claimed that ideological and political differences made Dr. Issahaku unfit to remain in office as Governor under an Akufo-Addo administration.
Council of State member and former President of the Ghana Bar Association, Lawyer Sam Okudzeto and ?Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance and Leasing Company Limited, Ken Thompson, had both kicked against the sacking Dr. Issahaku, but Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, who once served as Minister of Finance in the Kufuor administration, thinks otherwise.
Paa Kwesi Ammissah-Arthur, took over the governorship from Dr. Acquah ten months into the John Mills administration.
He served for eight years as governor and ensured a smooth transition before going on retirement.
Replacing the Central Bank boss, Mr. Thompson had warned, will have dire implications for the economy, as the incoming government, will have to dole out huge sums of money as a payoff to the governor and this is likely to affect investor confidence.
“It is very sad because this whole debate that has been ignited, I believe, has to do with some individual’s personal interest. But Akufo-Addo the President-elect must allow the institutions to work which I think will be to his advantage as well,” Mr. Thompson had told the B&FT newspaper.
Sam Okudzeto at the time of the controversy, also stated that “the day of appointment of a governor is not the same as the day of appointment of the government so we must allow the law.”
According to the law, the four-year term of a Governor of the central bank is protected and cannot be dismissed, even by the president unless on stated grounds.
Article 183 (4) (d) of the 1992 Constitution states that “He shall not be removed from office except on the same grounds and in the same manner as a Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature other than the Chief Justice, may be removed”.
Dr. Issahaku, first served as Deputy Governor from July 2013 to March, 2016 and as Governor from April, 2016 to April, 2017.
He left exactly a year after his appointment by President John Dramani Mahama.
Dr. Issahaku was an International Development Economist with several years of experience in economic policy management and development, having worked with reputable international and local institutions.
He worked with the World Bank as a Senior Public Sector Specialist; the African Development Bank (ADB) as a Principal Governance Expert and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa as a Development Management Officer.
Also, Dr. Issahaku was a Socio-Economic Advisor and Project Coordinator for the Canadian International Development Agency, as well as working as a Senior Planning Analyst with Ghana National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).
Before his appointment as Governor, he was the Second Deputy Governor and Executive Board member with oversight responsibilities of nine departments, including Economics, Statistics, Finance, Legal, Banking Supervision and Financial Stability.
He was also the Chairman of the Investment Management Committee of the Central Bank and a member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee.
Dr. Issahaku was a member of Ghana’s Economic Management Team. He chaired the Finance and Administration (F&A) Committee of the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Company and he is the Commissioner and Chairman of the F&A Committee of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
He was previously the Chief Executive Officer of the Export Development and Agriculture Investment Fund (EDAIF), which he restructured and helped restore to operational effectiveness before his appointment to the central banking in 2013.
Dr. Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku, has a Doctorate in International Affairs and Development from Clark Atlanta University, MBA in Finance and Strategic Management from Maharishi University of Management, USA, and Bachelors in Business Administration from the International Islamic University, Malaysia.
He has a certificate in Public Financial Management from Harvard University Kennedy School.
Dr. Issahaku, has effectively managed and supervised complex projects of international proportions. He was the Task Manager for Gambia’s Economic Management Programme (2004 – 2009).
He also spearheaded the Institutional Budget Support Programme for Tanzania (2005 – 2009).
From the Royal Zambang family of Kunbungu, Dr. Issahaku started his education in Tamale and attended Tamale Secondary School where he obtained his GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels. He is a lifelong friend of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
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