Some workers at the Ghana Deposit Protection Corporation (GDPC) have appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to urgently reconsider the appointment of Mr Galahad Alex Andoh, a former basic school teacher, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GDPC.
According to them, the position of CEO for such a critical institution should be given to an individual with strong educational and professional experience in finance and business.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghanaian Times yesterday, one of the workers, who pleaded anonymity, stated that he suspected the appointment was done quietly to prevent public scrutiny.
“This new CEO does not even know how to respond or interact with people via email. It is a worrying situation,” he alleged.
Due to the significance of GDPC in Ghana’s financial sector, he said the former board chair was the then-BoG Governor, Dr Ernest Addison.
This, the worker further underscored the agency’s importance and the need for a qualified leader.
Unlike the former CEO, Mrs Pearl Esua-Mensah, who has a strong background in business and finance, he noted that Mr Andoh’s professional experience was limited to being a teacher and serving as a district coordinator for the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) during President Mahama’s first administration.
He also revealed that the current CEO is also the communication officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ajumako Enyan Essiam Constituency.
“Mrs Esua-Mensah, on the other hand, is a seasoned business leader with decades of experience in finance, banking, and corporate leadership,” he added.
Available information on the official website of the GDPC indicated that before becoming GDPC’s CEO, Mrs Esua-Mensah was the Founder and Managing Consultant of Feniks Limited, a business consulting firm. She also served as Chief Executive of Media General limited and Deputy Managing Director of UT Bank Ghana.
The website also reveals that the previous CEO’s international experience includes roles as Group Financial Accountant for Parity Group PLC and Group Reporting Accountant for Kantar Group in the United Kingdom.
With over 20 years of global experience, Mrs Esua-Mensah has expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, business reorganisation, strategy development, and operational systems. She holds a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Ghana and an MBA from Manchester Business School. She is also a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA).
The anonymous worker further questioned why the new government appointed someone without financial expertise instead of looking for a competent person, saying, “such positions can be given to people within the NDC who are qualified,” he lamented.
The Ghana Deposit Protection Scheme was established by the Ghana Deposit Protection Act, 2016 (Act 931), as amended by the Ghana Deposit Protection (Amendment) Act, 2018 (Act 968).
The scheme aims to protect small depositors from losses due to bank failures and to ensure a stable financial system in Ghana.
It was conceived based on feasibility studies conducted in 2012 through collaboration between the BoG and the Government of Ghana, with financial and technical assistance from the German Government through KfW, a state-owned development bank.
With the agency’s critical role in ensuring financial stability, concerns have been raised over whether Mr Andoh’s appointment will enhance or weaken its operations
BY TIMES REPORTER
