Minority chases BoG for answers over cost of new cedi notes, Theodosia Okoh’s image

According to the Minority in Parliament, they are seeking answers on the technical justification for changing the currency, the cost, the due diligence undertaken in approving the designs and the potential cost of reprinting notes found to contain errors.

Ranking Member of Parliament’s Economy and Development Committee and Ofoase-Ayirebi MP, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, speaking at a press conference in Parliament on the 2027 Budget, stated, “Parliament, unfortunately, the committees of Parliament that exercise oversight on the Bank of Ghana, like our Committee on Economy and Development, have no idea what they are doing when it comes to the new currency”.

“What are the technical reasons for which our currency is being changed? How much has this exercise cost us? How do they respond to the misrepresentations of identities on the face of some of the notes that they have presented? What will it cost us to reprint those notes on which identities have been misrepresented?” he asked.

“We want to serve notice, and notice is hereby served. They will have to show up before Parliament and answer all of these questions,” he said.

The controversy stems from a wrong image of Theodosia Okoh being used on Ghana’s new  GH¢50 note, which has sparked questions about the selection and accuracy of the portrait, with Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin leading the charge, raising concerns about the image used on the new currency note.

The Minority Leader questioned the government’s diligence in selecting the image, contending that the alleged error raised concerns about its ability to manage the country’s economy.

Afenyo-Markin slammed the government for rushing to remove the images of the Big Six from Ghana’s currency, resulting in a mistake in representing Theodosia Okoh, the designer of Ghana’s national flag.

Addressing journalists after the presentation of the 2027 budget, Afenyo-Markin stated, “They were in haste to erase the Big Six from our currency and our history. Out of that haste and hate, we saw them outdooring a note bearing the name of Theodosia Okoh, but they got her picture wrong and placed a different face on the GH¢50 note,” he said.

“So a whole government machinery that cannot be diligent enough to get the right picture to put on our currency, how can we trust them with our economy? Can we trust them to put money in our pockets?” he asked.

Also, the Minority allegation was corroborated by Dr Eddie Obeng MBA, who said Theodosia Okkoh was his mother’s sister.

According to a post on LinkedIn by Dr Eddie Obeng accompanied by front and back images of the new GH₵50 note, he revealed that he had been proud to hear his aunt had been honoured, only to realise the face on the note was not hers, but rather his mother’s.

“I have a wry smile on my face that won’t go away, and occasionally I shake my head or giggle. So, I heard this morning that my aunt had been honoured in a new series of issued banknotes in Ghana – she’s famous there for designing the country’s flag after independence from Britain.

I was very proud and began composing a message to my cousin. Imagine my surprise when I took a look and realised that they have used a picture of my mother instead – she’s famous for being the country’s first lady PhD. You can’t make it up,” he wrote.

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