Pensioners picket at Finance Ministry to demand exclusion from Debt Exchange Programme

The Pensioner Bondholders Forum has begun its planned series of picketing activities at the premises of the Finance Ministry today, Monday, February 6.

The pensioners who have bought government bonds planned to embark on this exercise until they were exempted from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

They lament that the government has turned a deaf ear to the request for an exemption. They believe the inclusion of their bonds will negatively impact their livelihoods.

The closure invitation for government bond holders to subscribe to the programme expires tomorrow, Tuesday, February 7, 2023.

The Convener of the group, Dr Adu Anane Antwi, said they would continue to picket at the Finance Ministry until demands are met.

“We are pressing home our demand for an exception. That is why we have decided to converge at the ministry from Monday. Originally, we told the police that we would converge every working day until our demands are met. But for now, we are going there for two days, and then subsequently, we see what to do, whether to continue or not depending on the response we get from the government.”

The group, in an earlier statement, explained that attempts to have their investment exempted from the programme have not been fruitful, hence their decision to gather at the Finance Ministry until their demands are met.

“On 10 January 2023, we submitted a petition to the Minister of Finance to exempt all pensioners holding Government Bonds from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme on the same basis used for the exemption of Pension Funds from the programme, as the impact of the programme on pensioners who are bondholders will be very severe.

“We have, as of today, not been granted the exemption we requested. To further press home our request, we have notified the police that about 50 of our members intend to converge at the premises of the Ministry of Finance on every working day from 10 am-11 am, beginning from Monday 6th February 2023 till our request is granted by the Minister,” a statement by the group read.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has noted that despite the initial resistance by some stakeholders involved in the Domestic Debt Exchange programme, the government is gradually getting the support of all.

President Akufo-Addo said the successful implementation of the programme would ensure that Ghana gets the balance of payment support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by March 2023.

The president spoke at a meeting with the visiting German Finance Minister, Christian Lindner.

“One of the steps in the domestic debt exchange is, unfortunately, facing some difficulties, so it has not been concluded. As quickly as possible, we are looking at the committee to ensure that all the stakeholders are well engaged”, he said.

Government has, for the fifth time, extended the deadline for the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme to Tuesday, February 7.

Already groups such as the Individual bondholders, and the Trades Union Congress (TUC), have already kicked against their inclusion.

Organized labour on Wednesday, February 1, also reiterated its resistance against the government’s domestic debt exchange programme and assured that any attempts to repackage the programme to include pension funds would be fiercely rejected.