Members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum picketed again at the Finance Ministry to reiterate their demand for a total exemption of their investments from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) on Thursday, February 9, 2023.
This was the fourth consecutive time members of the forum picketed at the ministry.
The government has proposed a 15% coupon rate to all retirees, including those retiring in 2023.
However, about 30 retirees said they would not accept haircuts on their investments as their livelihoods depend on the proceeds from these investments.
One pensioner bondholder, Nimako Boateng, said he would rather die while protesting than sign onto the DDEP.
“In fact, today I’m tired, but I still think it will be better to die on this issue than to let them take my cash. I will prefer to go through this effort which will serve as a deterrent for the future generation,” he said.
He lamented that the government’s actions were unfair to them, rendering them hopeless.
“To me, I consider it an injustice because we have paid our dues. As pensioners, we are not being paid, and you want to take our main source of income away from us, meaning you are forcing us to die,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, the government has announced a 3-day administrative window for bondholders to complete processes for tendering their bonds.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Finance and signed by the Sector Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, said the window ends at 4 pm on Friday, February 10, 2023.
According to the statement, the window extension results from technical challenges experienced by some bondholders as they try to complete the online tender process.
It is believed that a sudden rush by bondholders to sign up close to the deadline placed a strain on the IT infrastructure.
The statement explained that the timetable of the exchange remains unaffected except for the announcement date, which is now Monday, February 13.
Accordingly, the settlement of the exchange remains on the scheduled date of Tuesday, February 14, 2023.
“Except as set forth in this paragraph, the terms and conditions of the exchange are not modified or amended,” he added.
The statement reminded bondholders who could not complete the process to visit the website of the Central Securities Depository www.csd.com.gh.dde to complete the process.