<<Print>>

IMPECCABLE INFORMATION reaching BUSINESS GUIDE indicates that the race for the Governor of the Bank of Ghana has intensified as Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, a former deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning during the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, is in the lead to become the new Governor. This paper has gathered that Mr. Amissah-Arthur is President John Evans Atta Mills� preferred candidate to the Central Bank�s highest position because of his involvement in the team of technocrats who impressively managed Ghana�s structural adjustment programme, starting from the 1980s. The paper can also report with confidence of serious lobbying going on at the office of President, as the current Governor, Dr. Paul Acquah, will not seek a new term when his contract expires in September. Dr. Acquah responded in the affirmative some two weeks ago when a question was posed to him by a journalist during the Monetary Policy Committee press briefing as to whether he was going to stay in office when his term of office ended. He said, �I would like to keep this to myself as it is a personal issue�. The explanation gave the impression that the Governor might not stay when his term of office comes to an end in September this year. Several names such as Dr. Gobind Nankani, a former World Bank Vice President, Alhassan Andani, Managing Director of Stanbic Bank, Togbe Afede, and at a point in time, Frank Adu Jnr., Managing Director of CAL Bank, have been bandied around as the likely candidates for the position of governor and chairman of the BOG�s Monetary Policy Committee, but it appears none would get the job. Mr. Amissah-Arthur, deputy Chairman of the Transition Team on the economy, was a prot�g� of former Finance Minister Kwesi Botchway and his involvement in the structural adjustment programme has been applauded by many including the World Bank and other development partners. While serving in that position, he accumulated a great deal of experience which he later parlayed into a lucrative international consultancy business, making him one of the wealthiest people in Ghana. Reports suggest that he is a low-profile person but is a highly influential member of the NDC. He is currently a consultant for organizations like the World Bank and many foreign governments across the African continent. He initially was reluctant to join the NDC Transition Team, arguing that it was time for a new generation to take over from his generation. This was attributed to a speculation that he was persuaded by the Ahwoi brothers to accept the role. He was also said to have been nursing ambitions of running for the chairmanship of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).