After the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and Police stormed numerous districts in Accra, they detained street beggars, bead weavers, and nail cutters who had been mistaken for black market vendors due to the depreciation of the cedi.
A total of more than 70 people were held on suspicion of operating a foreign exchange business without an apex bank license.
The government blames Black Market dealers for the drop in currency.
Street beggars, bead weavers, and nail cutters who were mistaken for money changers made up over 30% of those who were detained.
Furthermore, 60% of those jailed who were actually currency dealers had a Forex Bureau License, which permitted them to operate but constrained them to merely waiting by the roadside to direct consumers to their stores due to fierce competition.
The Bank of Ghana, dubbed a “incompetent authority” by foreign exchange merchants, took the decisive measure at the last minute after realizing how miserably it was failing to control the currency.
As a result, the BoG and Police conducted a special operation on foreign exchange parallel market operators, also known as black market operators, at hotspots within Accra’s Central Business District, notably Rawlings Park, Makola, and Tudu.
The “Black Market” is blamed for the rapid depreciation of the local currency in relation to the dollar and other significant foreign currencies.
In response to the arrests, a top official with information confirmed that while those with permissions were also detained, nail cutters were wrongfully detained.
“The Bank of Ghana is just on a face saving gimmick. Some of the people arrested are licensed operators, and most of the people arrested have not even seen dollar before, people who cut nails, people who sell beads, people who sell herbal medicines were all rounded up in an exercise to control the dollar rate. If rates are determine by other people rather than the BOG then clearly the BOG has failed” He said.
Despite the poor showing and result, Head of Forex Exchange Bureau at the Bank of Ghana, Adjoa Konadu Torto, said that is the Central Bank’s strategy to stabilize the currency.
“This special operation was part of the Bank’s overall strategy to sanitize the foreign exchange market. Other measures being put in place include enforcement of compliance from licensed foreign exchange bureau particularly with the taking of customer identification (Ghana card) and issuance of electronic receipt for every forex transaction; intensified public sensitization and media engagements to educate the general public on forex rules and regulations, including the need to avoid the black market,” she said.
She indicated that the exercise will continue in other parts of the country in the coming days.
The Bank further issued a strong caution to the general public to desist from engaging in the services of foreign exchange businesses operating without a license.
“The Bank cautions the general public to desist from engaging in foreign exchange business without a license. Members of the public who patronize the activities of black market operators are equally guilty before the law. The general public must always trade with the Bank of Ghana licensed foreign exchange (forex) bureau,” she noted.
BoG leading police to arrest nail cutters, street beggars mistaken for dollar black marketers has been criticized heavily.
