Broken doors, windows and weedy compounds were what welcomed the Global Chairman of Groupe Nduom, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, to the office premises of the defunct GN Bank offices as he commenced a nationwide tour to campaign for the return of the collapsed bank.
Dubbed “BringBackGNBank”, the purpose is to visit all the 300 GN Bank offices across the country to inspect the state of the facilities, engage with customers and also reveal to them his plans to resuscitate the company.
The first phase of the tour commenced last Sunday with a visit to most of the branches within the Central Region. Accompanied by some management and staff of Groupe Nduom, the team visited the old offices in Kasoa Amanfrom, Awutu Breku, Gomoa Potsin, Afranse, Biriwa, Makessim, Cape Coast and Takoradi.
Situation
In some areas, the team was shocked to see the offices in a complete state of disrepair. Although few were intact, others such as the Kasoa Amanfrom and Awutu Breku branches have been taken over by churches.
At various engagements, Dr Nduom expressed his worry that since the collapse of the bank, most of its customers had still not been given the opportunity to participate in the formal financial system.
Particularly in the remote areas, he said, most of them were faced with challenges ranging from limited savings options to restricted opportunities for economic growth, a service the bank was providing then.
“We were the only bank which saw the opportunity in establishing branches in some of these deprived areas and ever since our licence was revoked, no bank has made an effort to fill that vacuum,” he said.
He further explained that prior to the revocation of the licence, the bank was in good standing and most of the company’s funds had been invested in government projects as loans and advances to contractors which the government, through its ministries and agencies, had hired to execute various projects.