The management of Groupe Nduom has petitioned John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to restore GN Bank's license if he wins the December 7 elections.

GN Bank's license was revoked by the Bank of Ghana in August 2019.

During a meeting with the former president in Accra on Friday, July 19, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, the Global President of Groupe Nduom, expressed concern over the deteriorating state of the bank’s 300 centres across the country.

Dr Nduom highlighted that the collapse of the bank has led to significant job losses, causing severe hardships for the families of former employees.

• Read also: Debt value of Groupe Nduom was deliberately reduced to collapse GN bank – Dr Nduom alleges

He emphasised the negative impact on livelihoods and the broader community.

Dr Nduom pleaded with Mr Mahama to prioritise the reinstatement of GN Bank if he is elected in the upcoming elections, aiming to restore jobs and alleviate the suffering of those affected.

“We believe that if this administration doesn’t give us our license before they leave, and start paying the money before they leave, we believe that the next one will understand the situation and give the license back."

"So we are continuing with the hope and preparing and working our plans with the hope that, at some point, we will get the license back and we’ll bring the jobs back. Because it is the jobs that we are also looking for.”

“So we feel that collapsing a 300-branch financial entity is inimical to the economic interest of the country. So whether it even belongs to us or belongs to someone else, it is something that needs to be there,” he stated.

Mr Mahama criticised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for its decision to revoke the licenses of several indigenous financial institutions as part of the 2019 banking sector cleanup, calling it a hasty action. 

He further revealed that his administration plans to initiate an independent review of the entire banking sector cleanup process.

“I do think that government was hasty in what it did. If you look at the criteria that was used, I mean, it didn’t fit. It was not a one-size-fits-all. I mean, it was just like different rules for different folks and so, yes, as you said, a lot of these banks had also financed government suppliers and contractors and the government owed them and they owed the banks."

“But how would they recover that money if you don’t pay the contractors to pay them? And so I do think that it was hasty, and it’s affected indigenous capital in the financial and banking sector. And we have pledged that we would work to restore, you know, the capital of indigenous businesses in the financial sector.

“So we are advocating an independent review of the processes that went into the banking sector clean up and where we believe these were unjustifiable, look at the restoration of the licenses of these banks,” he said.