I wished him well but he betrayed me – Former Cal Bank CEO ‘tears’ Ofori-Atta
Former CEO of Cal Bank, Frank Adu Jnr, has strongly criticised former President Nana Akufo-Addo and his Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, over their decision to include pensioners in the government’s domestic debt restructuring programme.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Monday, June 30, Mr. Adu described the move as a permanent stain on both men’s legacies. According to him, many Ghanaians, including himself, may never be able to forgive them for what he called one of the darkest moments in Ghana’s economic history.
“Why would you do that? Why would you go after pensioners’ money?” he asked, visibly emotional. “It’s one thing that people can never forgive Akufo-Addo and Ken Ofori-Atta for.”
Mr. Adu revealed that he personally suffered losses during the financial crisis and that the pain goes beyond money—it was about a breach of trust in leadership.
“Yes, I lost money. Well, pensioners picketed and the former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, came to picket with us, etc. I didn’t go to picket but my colleagues, pensioners, did. Some were working the technical details behind the scenes, and those who were vociferous out front there, but I lost money in the Eurobond,” he said.
He explained that his anger stems from what he sees as a careless and unjustifiable decision.
“No, I will not [forgive them] because I saw them live large. And so why do you want to live large at the expense of my pension? It’s something that should not be trivialised at all. To have a Cabinet meeting and decide that in solving the country’s debt problems, we would include pensioners — that’s dark.”
Despite his personal relationship with Ken Ofori-Atta—describing the Finance Minister as “kind of family”—Mr. Adu didn’t hold back in his assessment.
“On my first trip to the US, I stayed with Ken. We slept in the same bed,” he disclosed, adding that the closeness didn’t affect his honest opinion.
When asked by host Evans Mensah to reflect on Ofori-Atta’s legacy as Finance Minister, Mr. Adu replied sharply:
“Disaster! Disastrous. Look, if it wasn’t disastrous, between him and the President, the people of Ghana wouldn’t have voted the way they voted in 2024. It’s not me saying it — the verdict is captured in the results of the elections. It’s as simple as that.”
He said it’s not reasonable to expect the public to remain silent while enduring economic hardship.
“You do not run the economy where almost everybody is suffering and expect that the people will not object. And that’s what the voters of this country did last year.”
Mr. Adu recalled being hopeful when Ofori-Atta was first appointed Finance Minister and even reached out to him to express his support.
“I remember when he was appointed. I sent him a message, congratulating him and urging him to do the best he could for this country and leave a legacy. That’s what we all expected. We were all very hopeful. But subsequent events have betrayed that hope,” he added.
His comments add to ongoing public discourse about the handling of Ghana’s economy during the Akufo-Addo administration, particularly the controversial decision to include pension funds in the domestic debt restructuring programme.