Ellembelle: Some traders and vendors in the Ellembelle District have started rejecting the 20 and 10 pesewas coins as legal tender for business transactions. Though there has not been any official directive from the Bank of Ghana, some sellers, traders, and vendors have decided to take the law into their own hands.
According to Ghana News Agency, investigations revealed that some of the traders and vendors reject the coins on a whimsical reason that the coins were too difficult to keep. Others also held the view that the coins had no value in monetary transactions. A source at the Bank of Ghana Head Office in Accra told GNA on condition of anonymity that the Bank had not issued any official directive for the rejection of any currency.
The source noted that the Central Bank had been receiving complaints from the public on the rejection of certain denominations of the Ghanaian currency such as the 20 and 10 pesewas coins as legal tender. It emphasized that it was an offence to reject any denomination of the Ghanaian currency, which is punishable by law. The apex Bank had started a sensitization exercise for the public, reiterating that the 20 and 10 pesewas coins were still in use for transactions.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has asked the public to report anybody rejecting any denomination of Ghana's currency to the nearest police station. At the latter part of 2024, the 20 pesewas coins represented a significant portion of coins in circulation totaling GHC120 million, making them essential for small-change transactions. Despite their official status, they are now being rejected by vendors, often leading to consumers being forced to accept lower value items instead of change.