The Convener of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum, Dr Adu Anane Antwi has warned it would resume picketing at the Ministry of Finance if the government fails to meet the new deadline for payment of their funds.
The Forum has shifted the deadline for the payment of its funds by the government from 21 April to 28 April.
Speaking to Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (17 April), Anane Antwi said the government must find money to meet its financial obligations.
“We have stated in that letter already, and we have sent a copy of that letter to Parliament it use to be 21 April [deadline] but now we have shifted it to 28 April,” he said.
Anane Antwi added: “If by 28 April, we haven’t received all our payment, we’re going to resume picketing at the Finance Ministry.”
In a related development, the Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta is expected to meet with leadership of the Pension Bondholders Forum on Monday (17 April).
Distress
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ken ofori-Atta has said the picketing of pensioners at the premises of the Finance Ministry has caused him great distress.
Members of the pensioner bondholders’ forum have been picketing at the Ministry of Finance to demand total exemption of their investments from the debt swap.
He said the government remains committed to the well-being and dignity of senior citizens and pensioners in the country.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday (16 February), the minister said, “In seeking to understand the concerns of our senior citizens, I have met with them on three occasions; the most recent was 15 February 2023 where I explained the terms of the new bonds.”
“Mr Speaker, I subsequently wrote to their convener that all pensioners who did not participate in the bond offering are exempted,” Ofori-Atta added.
Ghana’s former chief justice Sophia Akuffo on Friday (10 February) joined a picket line of pensioners who have been staging protests at the Finance Ministry, demanding that the government exempt them from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
Reporting by Fred Dzakpata in Accra
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