Supreme Court Gives BOG 14 Days Ultimatum

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Supreme Court
Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ordered the counsel for the Bank of Ghana (BoG)to file a statement of case for their defence within 14 days.

Mr Samuel Codjoe, the Counsel for the BoG, initially filed a preliminary objection to the applicant?s claims.

On a motion on notice for preliminary objection, he said that the action had been wrongly commenced at the Supreme Court.

He said the Supreme Court, in the exercise of its original jurisdiction, was not the proper forum for the interpretation of an Act of Parliament and it was wrongful for plaintiff to have invoked articles 2 (1) and 130 to seek interpretation of Section 4 (b) of the Bank of Ghana Act, Act 612 in the Supreme Court.

Dr John Ephraim Baiden, a private legal practitioner, has dragged the Bank of Ghana to Court over the depreciation of the cedi.

The applicant has prayed the court to order the Bank to put in measures to provide a stable currency.

While accusing the Central Bank of overstepping its bounds and, as a result, hurting the cedi, the plaintiff noted in his statement of case that the court should ensure that Ghanaians regained their ?monetary sovereignty?.

According to the plaintiff, the BoG was enjoined by the 1992 Constitution and the Bank of Ghana Act to maintain a stable currency for the benefit of Ghanaians and businesses.

The plaintiff, who brought the action in his capacity as a Ghanaian who has lost wealth through foreign exchange rate losses, was pleading with the court to direct the BoG to provide a stable currency.

Dr Baiden urged the Supreme Court to issue an order of mandamus on the BoG or its governor and the board of directors to provide a stable currency and a change from a floating exchange regime to a fixed regime or a reasonable adjustable peg regime.

He is further urging the court to order the BoG to abrogate the present dual exchange rate or multiple exchange rate system to a single exchange rate system.

The court is yet to decide on Dr Baiden?s call for an order directed at the BoG to provide Ghanaians with a 1:1 or nearer relationship with the leading global reserve currency, as occurred in 2007.

Among the reliefs being sought by the applicant, who joined the Attorney-General to the suit, was an order for perpetual injunction directing the BoG to refrain from deferring to a floating exchange rate regime in the conduct of its monetary policy.

He is also seeking a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 183 (2) (a) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002, Section 4 (b), BoG has neither promoted nor maintained a stable currency for the Republic of Ghana.

He said Article 183 (2) (a) of the 1992 Constitution provides, ?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.?

Dr Baiden, who is also praying the court to grant other orders it may deem appropriate, holds the view that the BoG knew it lacked the requisite reserves or exchange rate stabilisation fund to effectively intervene to give the cedi a stable value on the currency market.

Justifying his suit in a statement of case, he said he brought the action in the interest of the public, pursuant to articles 2 and 130 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.

?In 2013, the local currency suffered 17 per cent depreciation. The year-on-year depreciation shows a 21.96 per cent depreciation of the cedi against the dollar; 28.88 per cent against the pound sterling; 23.98 per cent against the Euro and 25.54 per cent against the Swiss Franc,? it said.

Dr Baiden argued that unless the court stopped it, the BoG would continue ?to utilise its unworkable monetary measures?.

According to him, the BoG was clearly out of its mandate and must, therefore, be whipped back in line.

The court presided over by Mrs Justice Justice Sophia Adinyira adjourned the case and the date for appearance is to be communicated to the parties later due to the legal vacation which begins in August. GNA

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