Lawyer files injunction on govt’s T-bill borrowings

Private legal practitioner Jonathan Amable has filed an injunction with the Supreme Court, aiming to immediately halt the government’s borrowing activities in the treasury bills market. In his writ, Amable calls for a suspension of treasury bill issuances used to fund government operations, citing the lack of parliamentary approval for these transactions.

Amable contends that the government’s borrowing practices violate the 1992 Constitution and pose ongoing risks to the economy. The Attorney General has been named as the defendant in the case, with the injunction seeking a Supreme Court ruling to declare the actions of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana unconstitutional.

According to the application, “The borrowing contracts undertaken without parliamentary oversight risk being deemed void due to unconstitutionality. This endangers Ghana’s financial sector, including banks, savings and loans institutions, micro-finance firms, asset management companies, insurance companies, pension funds, and individual investors. The state’s unconstitutional practices put the capital of Ghanaian investors and the wider financial sector in jeopardy.”

The filing points to alleged violations of Section 30 of the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612), and Section 61 of the Public Financial Management Act, which require parliamentary approval for borrowing activities such as treasury bill issuances, temporary advances, and loans from the Bank of Ghana.

Mr. Amable’s injunction request is specifically focused on stopping new borrowing transactions, while permitting the government to meet its obligations on existing debt, provided that repayments do not rely on funds from new, unapproved borrowing.