By Adu Koranteng
A Microfinance company based in the Western Region, Boin Microfinance Limited, has accused the Bank of Ghana (BoG) of human rights abuse and shear disregard for law and order.
The company has dragged the BoG to an Accra Human Rights Court for allegedly superimposing records of another microfinance company on it and using such records as basis to declare Boin Microfinance Ltd as insolvent on May 31, 2019.
The company has also accused the BoG of not even notifying it before the insolvency decision was taken.
Worse still, according to Boin Microfinance, even as the case continues in court with a certiorari order restraining the BoG and its agents from tampering with the company’s assets, the Receiver, one Eric Nipah with support from BoG, has started taking over the assets of the company in clear breach of the court orders.1
A petition sighted by The New Crusading GUIDE nespaper , dated July 14, 2020, and signed by Joseph Apor Adjei and Dr. Seth Dankyi Boateng, Shareholder and Board Member of Boin Microfinance Limited respectively, cautioned both BoG and the Receiver to respect the orders of the court by staying away from the company’s assets until the determination of the case in court.
“We write as Shareholders and Directors of Boin Microfinance Ltd. to draw your attention to the fact that the ORDER of CERTIORARI and INTER-LOCUTORY INJUNCTION ORDER that the Human Rights Court, Accra served you on our behalf stop you and all your agents from touching the assets of Boin Microfinance Ltd. until the matter is determined by the court”, the petition noted.
“Be informed that from the date of this notice until the matter is determined by the Court, any deliberate attempt by your agents to dissipate further the assets of Boin Microfinance Ltd. will be resisted.
“We have reached this conclusion because we have observed with surprise that your outfit has no interest in resolving the matter, but is bent on seizing our assets without recourse to the very law that you claim to be working with”, it said.
It continued: “As law abiding citizens of Ghana, even though the company, since its establishment, had never had any discussion on insolvency with the regulator (Bank of Ghana) and did not receive any notice on revocation of its license and take-over, the Board directed Management to hand-over peacefully to the staff of Bank of Ghana and its agent when they secretly appeared at its various branches on the 31st May, 2019 to seize the company.
“The shareholders and directors brought petitions to your office that Boin Microfinance Ltd. is not insolvent and that a report on an onsite inspection conducted by your outfit from 18th to 20th December, 2018, which was received on the 4th June, 2019, at which time you had already revoked the company’s license, revealed that you, either mistakenly or deliberately, super-imposed another company’s report on Boin Microfinance Ltd. based on which you revoked its license, and this was accordingly brought to your notice in our supplementary petition in order for you to correct the anomaly and reverse your decision”.
It explained further that, “When the petitions did not yield any results, the shareholders and directors were inclined to think that you might have deliberately revoked the company’s license and so we went to the High Court, Sekondi, to invoke the powers of the court to seek redress. Indeed, you brought a motion to the court, citing “the Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), and that we have invoked the powers of the Court wrongly”. The court under Her Ladyship Sedina Agbamavah J, respectfully referred the matter for settlement at Arbitration.
“Again, as law abiding people, the shareholders and directors went to the Ghana Arbitration Center, Accra, with our claim, and same was served on you. You only entered appearance through your lawyers Frank Davies and Davies and never submitted any response upon several reminders.
“Realizing that you were not ready to submit to Arbitration but only shielding your acts with the law by trampling on our human rights, we terminated the case at the Ghana Arbitration Center and went to the Human Rights Court, Accra, to seek for Judicial Review of your decision to revoke Boin Microfinance Ltd’s license without any reason. The Court has, accordingly, served you with an ORDER of CERTIORARI and, subsequently, INTER-LOCUTORY INJUNCTION ORDER”.
The petition stressed that, “These two ORDERS, in effect, stop you from touching the assets of Boin Microfinance Ltd. until the matter is determined by the court, but from our diligent observations, you seem to use the powers given to you by Ghanaians through the law to function, but you do not respect the same law enacted by Parliament, and for that matter Ghanaians, that protects your very existence when it comes to ORDERS from the Judiciary.
“As the case pends in court, with the above orders in place, your agent, Eric Nipah, is taking the assets of Boin Microfinance Ltd. He has already taken charge of the accounts containing about GH¢8.4 million (Ghana Cedis) and real and active loans of about GH¢5.5 million (Ghana Cedis). Eric Nipah has also taken pick-ups, motor bikes, furniture, computers and other assets from the following branches of the company, namely, Dadieso, Essiama, Aiyinase and Tikobo 1, through the use of the police. On the 10th June, 2020, we saw a vehicle with the inscription “BROLL GHANA LTD, PROPERTY SERVICES” at the branches of Boin Microfinance Ltd. The presence of Broll Ghana Ltd. at our offices indicates that you have actually planned to collapse our hard-established company without any reason whatsoever”
“As Ghanaians, and for that matter, shareholders and directors of Boin Microfinance Ltd., we are law abiding citizens and know that the police exist for every institution in Ghana and every individual (Ghanaian) and non-Ghanaians living in Ghana. We therefore want to use this medium to inform you that you cannot continue to use the police to intimidate us and infringe on our human rights. From the date of this notice until the matter is determined by the Court, any deliberate attempt by your agents to dissipate further the assets of Boin Microfinance Ltd. will be resisted.
“We are per this same notice informing the Ghana Police Service, Corruption Watch, Center for Democratic Development, the Metropolitan/Municipal/District Assemblies, Members of Parliament, Speaker of Parliament, His Excellency, The President of the Republic of Ghana, The Chief Justice, The Human Rights Court, Paramount Chiefs and the Media about your attitude and our intended resistance should your agents deliberately continue to dissipate the company’s assets”, it added.
“Also, copies of the CERTIORARI and INTER-LOCUTORY INJUNCTION ORDERS which the Human Right Court served on you and your lawyers are attached for the verification and perusal of each of these authorities.
“This comes with greetings from the Directors and Shareholders of Boin Microfinance Ltd., who are also Ghanaians and equally entitled to the Right for Justice”, it concluded.
