Ghana arrests seven women over cedi bouquets and currency-decorated cakes
Ghanaian authorities have arrested seven women accused of making and selling bouquets from cedi banknotes and decorating cakes with currency. The Bank of Ghana says these practices misuse the national currency, which must be treated as legal tender, and the arrests mark the largest enforcement action so far.
The arrests followed a tip-off and were carried out with police in Accra. Investigations are under way, and the suspects could face fines or imprisonment, with penalties set by a court; people who aid or promote the practice may also be prosecuted. The bank warned in July that altering notes, using them as decorations and throwing money at events could impair the cedi’s lawful use.
- Seven women were arrested in Accra over cedi decorations.
- The suspects could face fines or prison.
- The Bank of Ghana says aiding the practice may also be an offence.
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The cedi is Ghana's official currency. Recently, the Bank of Ghana became worried that people were misusing banknotes by turning them into decorative bouquets or using them to decorate cakes at celebrations, rather than using them as money.
In July 2026, the Bank of Ghana issued a public warning about these practices. The bank said that when notes are treated as decoration instead of currency, it harms their usefulness and people's trust in the money. The bank confirmed such misuse was illegal.
Authorities have since started enforcing the law after receiving reports of the practice. They consider the misuse serious enough to prosecute, with potential punishments including fines or imprisonment to be decided by courts.
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The case for
The central bank has a legitimate responsibility to maintain currency integrity. When banknotes are repurposed for decoration, they become damaged and removed from circulation, no longer serving as functional legal tender. If the practice spreads, it could undermine public confidence in the cedi and impair its practical utility as a medium of exchange. The Bank of Ghana's enforcement reflects a reasonable institutional duty to preserve the currency system's functionality for all citizens.
The case against
These arrests represent excessive state control over personal use of one's own property. The practical harm from artistic bouquets and decorated cakes to the cedi's function is negligible, and enforcement resources would better serve the public if directed towards serious financial crimes. The penalties—including potential imprisonment—appear grossly disproportionate to harmless creative expression with spare currency. Moreover, targeting economically vulnerable women raises concerns about unequal enforcement. Once in circulation, citizens should retain reasonable freedom over their own money, and state paternalism over these trivial uses overextends legitimate institutional interests.
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Originally published by BBC World as “Seven arrested for using Ghanaian banknotes to make ‘money bouquets’”.