SEIDU
AGONGO, the majority shareholder of collapsed Heritage Bank, is grieving over a
public announcement made recently that the bank’s assets were due to be
auctioned.
Heritage
Bank, which is currently under receivership, was one of nine banks whose
licences were revoked since 2017. It did not pass the Bank of Ghana’s benchmark
for strong banks hence the loss of its licence to the clean up exercise to rid
the banking sector of weak and insolvent banks.
Mr
Agongo is currently standing trial for causing financial loss to the state in
some contracts involving the supply of fertiliser to the Ghana Cocoa Board
(COCOBOD).
Following
the announcement, the businessman and philanthropist, has written an emotional
eulogy on the bank.
The
embattled businessman in a Facebook post titled ‘a sad end?’ said he envisaged
Heritage Bank to be “a proud continental brand, blazing the flag of Ghana and
rubbing shoulders with counterparts elsewhere.”
He
said he was hopeful of building a stronger brand in Heritage Bank similar to
the likes of Ecobank of Togo, Access Bank of Nigeria and Stanbic Bank of South
Africa.
“In
July 2014, I set out to build a brand that will endure and stand the test of
time.
It
was a deliberate attempt, guided and inspired by a passion to create a
formidable brand from scratch onto the world economic stage,” he said.
He
added that with the relevant financial resources in hand, “we completed
the preparatory works and in October 2016, acquired a licence from Bank of
Ghana to operate as Heritage Bank Ghana Limited.”
“The
dream was on and in the twinkle of an eye, a group of highly motivated staff
were assembled and one of the best and most robust working structures put
together to render services that will endear those we came into contact with.
All
was well until 2017, when a new regulatory regime started, taking us prisoner,”
he noted.
He continued
that the bank, which was collapsed in January this year, was “the only solvent
bank to have lost its licence to the Bank of Ghana’s reforms.”
“Almost
nine months down the line, the properties of the once cherished, blossoming and
glowing brand are now up for auction; an auction that is akin to the virtual
continuous auctioning of shrewd business ideas in our part of the world.”
According to him, “Heritage Bank may be gone but the flame has not quenched and will not be quenched.”
BY Samuel Boadi
