The Big Six have had their day on Ghana's currency, Felix Kwakye Ofosu says, as the NPP pushes back over their removal from the new Heritage Series notes.

Published 13 Nov 2026, 14:11 GMT

3 min read

Bank of Ghana graphic showing the eight Ghana Heritage Series banknote denominations, GH¢1 to GH¢200 — The Ghana Heritage Series banknotes: GH¢1, GH¢2, GH¢5, GH¢10, GH¢20, GH¢50, GH¢100 and GH¢200

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Government Communications Minister Felix Kwakye Ofosu has dismissed criticism of the removal of the Big Six from Ghana's new cedi notes, saying nobody is owed a permanent place on the currency.

Mr Kwakye Ofosu, speaking on Friday, November 13, on Metro TV, said politics rather than principle was driving the complaints about the new Heritage Series.

“They are not significant issues, trust me. Apart from sulking about not having the Big Six, I don’t see what the issue is.”

“Nobody owes anybody any permanent fixture on the currency,” he said.

“The Big Six have had their day. They’ve been on the currency for close to 20 years.”

“Before that, there were the likes of Yaa Asantewaa and co on the currency,” he added.

“So really, from time to time, the Bank of Ghana has a right to change,” he maintained.

The row began after the Bank of Ghana unveiled the series at Bank Square in Accra on Thursday, November 12. The redesigned notes drop the collective portrait of the Big Six that has carried the front of the existing cedi notes, keeping only Kwame Nkrumah, on the GH¢200.

The eight new notes put Nkrumah on the GH¢200, ex-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the GH¢100, flag designer Theodosia Okoh on the GH¢50 and composer Ephraim Amu on the GH¢20.

Educationist James Kwegyir Aggrey takes the GH¢5, Justice Annie Jiagge the GH¢10, Cardinal Peter Poreku Dery the GH¢2 and market trader Agnes Oforiwa Tagoe-Quarcoopome the GH¢1.

President John Mahama, who launched the series, told the ceremony that the cedi “knows no political parties”.

Dr Palgrave Boakye Danquah, who lectures at the University of Professional Studies, Accra, was among the critics, calling the redesign a missed opportunity in a Thursday statement with the 70th independence anniversary due in March 2027.

“Currency is not just money. Currency is memory,” he said, proposing one note for each member of the Big Six.

He also wants portraits of traditional leaders, including the Asantehene and the Ga Mantse. “We still have time,” he said, urging the authorities to reconsider the design before 2027.

A leading member of the New Patriotic Party, Gabby Otchere-Darko, did not mention the currency in his own post on Thursday evening.

But he wrote: “A nation that makes a battlefield of its past weakens its defences against the struggles of the present. Without the courage to accept a shared history, it cannot heal its divisions or forge a common destiny.”

Araba IncoomAraba Incoom writes on multiple topics with a vast knowledge across different sector. You can almost call me an AI, after all, my initials are Araba Incoom.

Kwakye Ofosu on Big Six removal from new cedi notes: &#39;Nobody owes anybody a permanent fixture&#39;

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Kwakye Ofosu on Big Six removal from new cedi notes: 'Nobody owes anybody a permanent fixture'