By Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, has denied describing the National Democratic Congress (NDC) members of Parliament (MPs) as hooligans during the #OccupyBoG protest staged by the minority MPs in October 2023.
Dr Addison, answering questions made the denial when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Parliament on Monday, April 8, 2024.
The governor of BoG firmly rejected claims alleging that he in the heat of the protest described the NDC MPs as hooligans, stating that the term “hooliganism” was an interpretation by the Media House and not an accurate representation of his words.
“This is what I am coming to say that those who know me and know my character…you have not heard a single word of a recorded message with me describing parliamentarians in that manner. This was some foreign journalist’s description of the conversation we had and I disowned it,” he stated.
Dr Addison clarified that the reported description did not originate from him but from the foreign Media House that initially covered the story.
In October 2023, a coalition comprising minority parliamentarians, NDC supporters, and various interest groups organized the #OccupyBoG demonstration, demanding the resignations of Dr Addison and his deputies over allegations of economic mismanagement and unauthorized currency printing.
In response to the protest, Dr Addison was alleged to have labeled the demonstrators as “hooligans” and asserted that neither he nor his deputies would resign.
In an interview with the international business website Central Banking, Dr Addison characterized the NDC-led protest as “completely unnecessary.”
