Appointment Galore: GCB Board Divided

The Independent is reliably informed that some members of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) board are unhappy with the way the procedure for appointing a Managing Director for the Bank is shamefully being manipulated by certain individuals on the Board with support from a senior state official. Some of them are shocked at the supposed appointment of Mr Simon Dornoo, head of Treasury at Barclays Bank, as the MD designate of GCB. �We are stunned by this announcement because the gentleman in question was not even shortlisted by KPMG, a consultancy firm contracted by the President to appoint a new MD for the GCB�, a furious board member told The Independent Newspaper. Information from the corridors of the Finance Ministry say, Mr Mensah, who is currently the Deputy Managing Director of UNIBANK, an institution solely owned by the current Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, last week came close to being mentioned as the MD of GCB. Sources say, the current UNIBANK Boss emerged as the best candidate after attending a keenly contested interview for the post, which was attended by some top brass and banking magnates in the country. Some members of the Board, who spoke to The Independent on condition of anonymity expressed concern about the way some selfish individuals of the board are squeezing water out of stone to prevent Mr John Kofi Mensah, who excelled during the interviews, from becoming the MD of the all-important state Bank. Some of them have threatened to go to town if their colleagues do not do away with their selfish interest and proceed to impose Simon Dornoo, who in the first place is not a tried and tested person on the bank. How can three members of the board continue to take decisions for the board, when it is made up of more than 10 people, one angry board member told The Independent. It can be stated without equivocation that the Board by its decision has stabbed the President at the back since they are going contrary to the President�s preference. They waited for the President to travel outside the country before making a questionable announcement to the effect that, the Bank now has a Managing Director Designate, another board member charged. In another development dark clouds are gathering in the Central Region, one of the key regions that determined the political fate of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the attempt to ditch Mr Mensah. Following this development, the Fante youth association based in the Central Region is very angry with a certain minister of state who they believe is behind the attempt to prevent the Deputy Managing director of Unibank, John Kofi Mensah from becoming the Managing Director of GCB. The association has threatened to hit the streets of Cape Coast to register their protest over the decision to sideline Mr Mensah. According to them, the move by the said minister to prevent Mr Mensah from security that post clearly indicates that, he is only thinking of his business interest and not Ghana as a whole because he is very much aware that, the departure of Kofi Mensah will greatly affect the operations of his financial institution. Speaking to the media, following the alleged announcement of one Simon Dornoo as the new Managing Director-designate for GCB, the chairman of the Association, Mr Kojo Afful said, the information reaching them indicate that, the new MD-designate did not even apply for the position and that, his name was not shortlisted by KPMG, a consultancy firm contracted by the president to appoint a new MD for the GCB. He noted that, the Finance Minister�s alleged decision to prevent the appointment of John Kofi Mensah was purely based on the latter�s competence and commitment level, which the said minister knows very well. They told the Independent that, after KPMG had been contracted to select a suitable person for the job, they shortlisted Alhassan Andani and Kofi Mensah, but for unexplained reasons, the minister and his board have allegedly decided to do otherwise particularly when all the relevant institutions including the BNI have okayed the selection of the Unibank MD. They are asking the president to ask the minister why he did not adhere to KPMG�s recommendation.