The Supreme Court has suspended the enforcement of the Court of Appeal’s ruling that reinstated the licence of GN Savings and Loans Company Limited. The apex court’s order will remain effective until it delivers a final judgment on the substantive issues before it. Consequently, GN Savings and Loans must temporarily refrain from executing the Court of Appeal’s directives issued in May 2026.
Court of Appeal
In May 2026, the Court of Appeal unanimously reinstated the licence of GN Savings and Loans Company Limited. The three‑member panel overturned a High Court ruling that had upheld the revocation, describing the decision to revoke the licence as unfair and unreasonable. The appellate court further directed the Receiver to return possession, management, and control of the company’s assets and operations to its shareholders.
GN Bank Limited had earlier been reclassified as a savings and loans institution on January 4, 2019, and renamed GN Savings and Loans Company Limited. However, on August 16, 2019, the Bank of Ghana, under Governor Dr Ernest Addison, revoked its licence as part of the banking sector clean‑up and appointed Eric Nana Nipah as Receiver. That same month, Groupe Nduom, owners of the company led by Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, challenged the revocation in the High Court in Accra.
The application against the Bank of Ghana, the Attorney General and the Receiver of the savings and loans companies prayed the High Court to reverse the decision by BoG to revoke the licence of GN Savings and Loans, saying the action was a violation of his fundamental human rights. The court, presided over by Justice Gifty Addo Adjei, delivering judgment on the case, said the Central Bank was therefore right when it revoked the licence of the third respondent because it had become apparent that it was unable to meet its debt obligations due to poor governance structures.
Initially, lawyers for the BoG raised a legal objection to the application on the basis that the jurisdiction of the High Court had been wrongly invoked. Dr Justice Srem Sai, counsel for Dr Nduom, said the action taken by the BoG and its agent, which included the receiver of the savings and loans companies, was a clear violation of his human rights. The lawyers for the Central Bank and the Attorney General said the jurisdiction of the court had been wrongly invoked because matters of banking revocation were expected to go for arbitration at the Arbitration Centre. But Justice Srem Sai, who was the lawyer for GN Savings and Loans at the time, opposed this argument.
The court held that the applicant failed to demonstrate solvency at the time its licence was revoked, and therefore could not prove its ability to meet debt obligations. Justice Addo Adjei dismissed claims of unreasonableness, malice, and breaches of law as unfounded. On the issue of administrative justice, the court ruled that the Bank of Ghana acted within its constitutional mandate under Article 130 of the 1992 Constitution in revoking the licence. “No illegality was occasioned by the conduct of the Central Bank in revoking the licence in the face of insolvency,” she stated, adding that the BoG had not violated its statutory principles.
The court further concluded that the Central Bank’s decision was both reasonable and fair in light of the liquidity challenges and consistent with its regulatory mandate. Addressing allegations of discrimination, the court found no merit, noting that other institutions faced similar measures during the sector clean‑up. It advised the applicants to pursue claims of government indebtedness through the Ministry of Finance, despite their assertion that repeated efforts to recover funds had failed.
The court rejected the argument that such circumstances rendered the licence revocation unreasonable. It was this decision that Dr Nduom, led by his counsel Cletus Alengah, challenged at the Court of Appeal.
Source: Justice Agbenorsi
