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It's an offence to refuse new currency
- Bank Manager
Mankessim, July 4, GNA - It is an offence to refuse to
accept the new Ghana Cedi in exchange for goods and
services, the Mankessim Branch Manager of the Ghana
Commercial Bank, Mr Samuel Okyere, has warned.
Mr. Okyere gave the warning when a customer of the Bank
reported to him that a "white man" he was negotiating with
to buy a saw milling machine had refused to accept 200 Ghana
Cedis he had withdrawn from the Bank earlier.
According to Mr. Philip Adonu, a carpenter, he was to pay
3.5 million cedis to the white man he only known as Franco.
Mr Adonu said he withdrew 200 Ghana cedis and added 1.5
million cedis of the old currency and took the money to
Franco who refused to accept the new currency.
The carpenter then went back to the Bank to change the new
money back into the old cedi notes but Mr. Okyere refused,
saying, "we should not allow any foreigner to dictate what
is good for the nation".
The manager explained that the purpose for the
re-denomination was to avoid the carrying of large sums of
money for transactions and said the purpose of the exercise
would be defeated if people refuses to accept the new
currency.
There were long queues when GNA visited some banks in parts
of the Central Region to see how the exercise was being
conducted.
At the Gomoa Rural Bank at Apam, a queue had been formed
hours before it opened for business with people anxious to
see and feel the new money.
Mr. Tetteh Lawer Akrofi, the Manager said the delay in
getting new chequebooks with the Ghana cedi sign from the
Bank of Ghana (BoG) was posing problems.
He said that as an interim measure the bank had rubber
stamps bearing the new currency sign and asked customers to
submit their cheques for the stamping of the new currency
sign on them.
A customer whose cheque dated June 29, 2007 could not be
cashed last Friday, was turned away on Tuesday when he
presented it because the amount to be withdrawn had been
stated in the old currency.
The customer argued that since the old and the new
currencies were to run concurrently until December this
year, he saw no reason why the Bank asked him to prepare
another cheque stating the amount to be withdrawn in the new
currency.
At the Ekumfiman Rural Bank at Ekumfi Essuehyia, the
Manager, Mr. Michael Kumi Frimpong, said the anxiety of the
people to get the new currency had brought some pressure on
the staff but expressed the hope that the situation would
change by next week.
At the Mankessim Ghana Commercial Bank, the Manager, Mr.
Samuel Okyere, said there were heavy withdrawals by traders
for their transactions on Wednesday, which was a market day.
The story at the Mfantseman Community Bank at Biriwa was
different when GNA got there at 14 hours.
There were only some few students from the Biriwa Vocational
Technical Institute in the banking hall to change their
money for the new currency.
GNA
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