By Elizabeth Larkwor Baah, GNA
Tema, Oct. 14, GNA – Money is increasingly becoming a symbol of love, honour and celebration at weddings, birthdays, engagements and other social occasions in Ghana, where cash gifts are gaining prominence as a way of making events memorable.
Crisp Ghana Cedi notes are increasingly folded into roses, arranged into colourful bouquets and presented as gifts to celebrants. For some, these arrangements combine beauty with financial value, while others see them as expressions of generosity, affection and social status.
However, the practice had raised concerns about currency protection, particularly following the reported arrest of seven people in Accra over the alleged production and sale of money bouquets and other decorative items made from cedi notes.
The arrests have revived an important question: Is Ghana’s existing currency law sufficiently clear to address these modern uses of banknotes, or does it require review to reflect changing social practices?
Dr Daniel Osabutey, a Senior Lecturer at the Accra Technical University Business School, believes the controversy provided an opportunity for Ghana to review its currency legislation and ensure that efforts to protect the cedi are supported by clear, modern and constitutionally sound laws.
Protecting the Cedi without stretching the law
The Bank of Ghana had warned against using Ghana Cedi notes and coins for decorative purposes, including money bouquets and money jewelry. In July 2026, the Central Bank issued a public notice on the practice before enforcement action reportedly followed in October.
The Central Bank’s position reflects the importance of protecting the national currency from damage and misuse. Banknotes are public instruments that facilitate daily transactions, from buying food at the market and paying transport fares to conducting business and meeting household needs.
The Ghana Cedi is also a symbol of national identity and economic independence. Its protection, therefore, extends beyond the physical notes to public confidence in the country’s monetary system.
Yet, Dr Osabutey argues that the need to protect the currency must be balanced with the legal principles governing criminal offences and points to the Currency Act, 1964 (Act 242), which was enacted decades before money bouquets, money cakes and currency jewellery became visible features of contemporary celebrations.
He said the law contained provisions intended to protect the currency, including offences relating to discounting notes or coins below their face value, altering or impairing coins, and dealing with counterfeit or forged currency; however, the Act did not expressly mention many of the decorative practices now attracting regulatory attention.
“This creates a question about whether particular acts involving money bouquets fall within existing offences, especially where the notes are folded, attached to other materials or arranged without necessarily being physically damaged,” he noted.
According to Dr Osabutey, the issue was not simply whether the practice was desirable but whether the conduct alleged against an individual clearly falls within an offence defined by law, saying that the distinction was important because public disapproval of an activity does not, by itself, make the activity a criminal offence.
The law must be clear
Dr Osabutey draws attention to Article 19(11) of the 1992 Constitution, which provides that no person may be convicted of a criminal offence unless the offence is defined and the penalty prescribed in written law.
He mentioned that the constitutional principle required criminal offences to be clearly established. It also means that a public notice, however important its regulatory purpose, cannot by itself create a criminal offence where written law does not provide one.
He said for the ordinary Ghanaian, this raises a practical concern questioning, “If a person gives a partner a bouquet containing cedi notes at a birthday celebration, does that automatically amount to an offence? What if the notes are folded but remain intact? And what if the arrangement involves glue, pins or other materials that damage the notes?
These situations may involve different levels of physical interference with the currency. Whether any particular act constitutes an offence would depend on the applicable law and the facts of the case.
Dr Osabutey’s position suggests that such distinctions should be addressed clearly in legislation rather than left to uncertainty or broad interpretation, saying his argument does not mean that the cedi should be left unprotected; rather, it highlights the need for enforcement to operate within the limits of the law.
A case for legislative reform
The Senior Lecturer said the controversy presents an opportunity for Parliament to undertake a comprehensive review of Act 242, stressing that a modernised law could expressly define prohibited conduct, including deliberate acts that deface, mutilate, alter or otherwise impair currency, and also distinguish between physical damage to banknotes and temporary handling that leaves them intact.
He said such an approach would help the public understand what was permitted and what could attract criminal liability as well as provide clearer guidance to businesses producing decorative gifts, event planners, florists and individuals who incorporate money into gifts for weddings, engagements and birthdays.
More importantly, he said the law could establish appropriate mental requirements, proportionate penalties and clear enforcement powers to help ensure that sanctions reflect the nature and seriousness of the conduct involved with the objective to protect the cedi without unnecessarily criminalising lawful possession, gifting or legitimate handling of banknotes.
Conclusion
Dr Osabutey’s intervention offers a way forward: review the existing law, define prohibited acts precisely and establish penalties that are fair and proportionate.
Protecting it is important, but that protection must rest on clear and enforceable law to ensure that the rules governing the currency are modern, predictable and consistent with the 1992 Constitution.
GNA
Edited by Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo/Benjamin Mensah
Writer: Elizabeth Larkwor Baah, GNA
Write’s email address: [email protected]