The Bank of Ghana is drafting a new Currency Act to replace the Currency Act, 1964 (Act 242), Governor Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama announced at the Accra launch of the Ghana Cedi Heritage Series.
He disclosed this in his remarks at Bank Square on Thursday, November 12, as the central bank unveiled the upgraded banknotes. The new series enters circulation on December 1 and will run alongside the current notes, which remain legal tender .
"Our currency has for many decades been governed by the Currency Act, 1964 (Act 242), that was enacted in a very different era," Asiama said. "The Bank is therefore working with stakeholders on a new Currency Act that will consolidate and modernise the law governing our currency."
Among other things, the bill is meant to strengthen provisions against counterfeiting, "with penalties proportionate to the seriousness of the offence", the Governor said.
It will also set out "clear procedures for detecting, surrendering, authenticating, and destroying counterfeit notes" and give "firmer legal backing to the fight against the mutilation and abuse of our banknotes and coins".
No timeline was given for when the bill will reach Parliament.
The old law still underpins the Bank's notice against misusing the cedi , issued on July 14, which names spraying money at events, making money bouquets and writing on notes among offences under Act 242.
The notice, signed by the Bank's Secretary, Aimee Vyda Quashie, also prohibits scattering notes on the ground, using images of the currency without permission and selling a coin above its face value.
It warns that offenders risk arrest, prosecution, fines or imprisonment under the Currency Act and, as amended, the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612).
On Thursday the Governor made the same appeal: "I urge the public to handle our currency with care and to desist from all forms of currency abuse, including the deliberate mutilation, defacement and misuse of banknotes and coins."
The Heritage Series — the faces, landmarks and symbols on every note — starts circulation on December 1, with the existing notes still valid.
The Bank plans a nationwide education drive, in every region and in the major local languages, to teach Ghanaians the security features of the new notes.