The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has issued a formal warning that spraying cedi notes at weddings, funerals, and parties, as well as making money bouquets for birthdays, graduations, and other celebrations, are criminal offences under Ghanaian law.
In a notice dated July 14, 2026, signed by Secretary Aimee Vyda Quashie, the BoG cited growing misuse of the currency, which it said undermines the quality, integrity, functionality, and public image of the cedi.
The prohibitions are grounded in the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612) and the Currency Act, 1964 (Act 242), which protect the cedi as the nation’s legal tender.
Prohibited Acts include spraying or showering notes at social gatherings, making money bouquets for celebrations, using banknotes or coins as decorations, jewellery, or fingernail art, and scattering, stepping on, or dancing on currency.
Others are tearing, crumpling, staining, soiling, or writing on notes, cutting, altering, or defacing notes or coins, gilding, silvering, colouring, or filing coins, buying or selling coins above face value, possessing filings or scrapings from tampered coins and using images of Ghanaian currency without BoG approval.
Offenders risk arrest, prosecution, fines, or imprisonment. The BoG will work with the Ghana Police Service and other law enforcement agencies to monitor compliance and take action against violators.
The BoG noted that the state spends substantial public funds annually on printing and minting currency and appealed to the public to handle the cedi responsibly.
Individuals, businesses, and institutions are urged to protect the national currency and report breaches to the appropriate authorities.
