Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Henry Kofi Wampah, stepped down on Thursday, cutting short a four-year term during which he has struggled to curb inflation and stem the decline of the national currency.
The governor, whose term officially ends in August, said he had informed President Mahama of his intention to leave office . He further added that the November general elections, to some extent, influenced his decision to leave office.
“I told him I wanted to leave office early and we have agreed that I will exit at the end of March…It is just fair to leave early in order to give enough room for my successor, whoever it might be, to settle down before we get to the elections.” he said.
According to Dr. Wampah, one of his two deputies, either Millison Narh or Abdul Nashiru Issahaku, may serve as interim governor until the president chooses a permanent successor.
Dr Wampah was appointed by President Mahama in 2013 amid serious fiscal imbalances caused mainly by election spending in 2012 and a burdensome public sector wage bill that complicated the bank’s task of managing the money supply.
Once considered a rising star in Africa, Ghana, which exports cocoa, gold and oil, has been dogged by large budget deficits, ballooning public debt and inflation that consistently tops government targets.
The bank held its benchmark interest rate at 26 percent in its latest rate decision last week.
Consumer price inflation meanwhile slowed in February, but still stood at 18.5 percent.
Such crippling figures have earned Wampah heavy criticism from some quarters.
While the cedi currency has for the first time in several years withstood the seasonal first quarter pressure to rally, it has lost 94 percent of its value against the dollar since Wampah was sworn in January 2013.
He has also faced calls for his resignation this year over what some said was the bank’s failure to effectively monitor DKM Microfinance, a small firm that lost millions of cedis in its customers deposits before it had to be liquidated.
Wampah dismissed suggestions that he was being forced to step down due to the controversy surrounding the company’s collapse.
