The rising tension at the GCB Bank, stemming from unsecured loans running into several millions of Ghana cedis, has been blamed on the Board Chairman of the bank, Daniel Owiredu.
Some board members and other top management officials of GCB Bank said the chairman had single-handedly been taking unilateral decisions with dire implications for the bank.
Mr Owiredu is said to be chairing the bank’s credit sub-committee that approves loans after which the reports are submitted to the board chaired by the same person, raising the issue of credibility.
This action is increasing the bank’s risk of bad debts since several millions of the loans approved have little security or ‘uncollateralized.’
The bank has dismissed the media report as complete fabrication.
A statement from the bank says the publications are ‘malicious’ and are without a basis, asking the public to “treat them with the contempt that they deserve.”
The statement added, “It should be noted that GCB Bank has some of the most stringent rules and procedures in the banking industry for granting of loans.”
It said under the leadership of Dan Owiredu, the “bank has continued on its growth path and put in place robust risk management systems.”
But inside sources at the bank said the chairman’s chairing of the Credit Sub-Committee violates modern corporate practices since he sits on his own decision at the Sub-Committee level.
Curiously, while the chairman sits on the Credit Risk Sub-Committee, the Credit Risk Manager of the bank has also been empowered to approve loans up to GH¢1 million while other senior management members have been capped.
“How can a whole board chairman chair a Credit Subcommittee of a bank? What’s his interest? This thing has been going on for so long and something must be done about it,” an angry top manager voiced out.
Mr. Owiredu was President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Golden Star Resources Limited, before he was appointed to the GCB Board.
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