A group calling itself Citizens in Support of Good Corporate Governance, has waded into the recent developments relating to goings-on at Agriculture Development Bank (ADB), particularly its planned Initial Public Offer (IPO) on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), stating that the agitations by the workers against the IPO and the Managing Director, Stephen Kpordzih, is a strategy to hound him out.
According to the group, they have a strong conviction that the workers are being used by their union leaders to push an agenda which they believe is being pushed by vested interests to halt the IPO and finally coerce government into abandoning the sale.
“Our conclusions are worrying to say at least. Therefore we deem it necessary to make them public and take an active stance against the fulfillment of the agenda being pursued by the workers, most of whom, we believe, are simply being ignorantly used by their union leaders, who in turn are being used by vested interests who would wish to see ADB Bank remain under the State’s control, albeit with a different – we daresay, more pliable – chief executive”, the group noted.
They also added that, initially, the workers vehemently declared their complete opposition to the privatization of ADB Bank, arguing that it is a state development institution whose functions and charter as the leading provider of financial support to the agricultural sector would not be served under private ownership.
However, when this argument was floored the workers turned their attention to allegations of financial imprudence by top management, focusing on the CEO’s exclusion from the board, without which the key decisions being contested would not have been taken.
Spokesman of the group, Toma Imirhe stated that the IPO was necessary for reasons of good regulatory practices. Therefore the central bank must divest its equity stake in the bank.
He further opined that, for the past two decades the fortunes of the bank had dwindled saying that, the operating parameters of the bank as a universal one in competition with many others, and its state ownership, with the inevitable political influences and demands, are not internally compatible with each other, forcing the bank to reduce its loan exposure to the agricultural sector.
“As bank minimum capital levels are increased from time to time by the BoG, it is increasingly difficult for ADB Bank to keep pace with other banks in this regard, thus lowering its competitiveness”, he averred.
Elorm Desewu, the Convener, who read the media statement at a press conference yesterday said it has been projected that, if the divestiture takes place the IPO is expected to generate a 28% increase in its total assets, deposits and loans and advances as well as, a 1.2% increase in returns on the assets and a 5.65 increase in capital accuracy by the end of 2016.
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