By Issah Mohammed / Cate Aku Agbodza
Accra, June 22, GNA – Members of the Pensioners Bondholders Forum have begun a third round of picketing at the Ministry of Finance to demand payments on due coupons, principals, and interest on bonds.
The picketing is set to be carried out on Thursdays and Fridays of every week until government honours its obligation to bondholders.
Speaking in an interview on the first day of picketing, Dr Adu Anane Antwi, the convener of the Forum, said that although the Government said it has directed the Controller and Accountant General to “prioritise” payments on bonds which was due on June 5, the pensioners were yet to receive payment.
He indicated that government was yet to make payment on six coupons to pensioners which was due them.
“We were hoping that two weeks after the payment was due, we would be told something, but government hasn’t said anything to us. Our coupons are always due on Mondays so if by Wednesday we don’t receive our payment on Thursdays and Fridays, we will picket here,” he said.
Madam Banbi Allan, a member of the forum, said without coupon payments, she could not afford the medication her relative who is suffering from a kidney disease.
“My cousin has a stage 3 kidney disease. She needs to go to the laboratory for a test, but I cannot afford that, and with other medical issues, her tablet that we used to buy at GHS 400 is now GHS 800,” she said.
Mr Kris Apeletey, a nurse domiciled in the United Kingdom (UK), said he came to support his mother to be paid, a pensioner who does charity work.
“My mother does charity work which I want to be part of, but without the money, we cannot do that or continue with the charity work which is very bad because people depend on us to survive. We are pleading with the Government to pay the pensioners,” he said.
The first round of picketing started on February 6, 2023, at the Ministry of Finance where pensioner bondholders demanded the total exemption of their bonds from the Government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
The picketing lasted for 8 days before the Government announced the exemption of pensioners yet to participate in the DDEP.
Following delays in the payment of coupons and matured principals to pensioners exempted by the Government from the DDEP, the forum wrote to the finance minister on March 30, 2023, demanding payment on outstanding coupons and principals by April 21, 2023.
They also urged government to make payments on subsequent coupons and principals as and when due without delays.
As of March 30, 2023, there were 13 coupons and two principals in arrears with the earliest due amount being in arrears for 38 days.
The forum also issued an April 21 ultimatum which was further extended to April 28 to give the ministry of Finance ample time to make payments.
With payments yet to be made, the pensioners bondholders begun the second round of picketing on May 8.
On the fifth day of picketing thus May 12, a meeting ensued with Mr Mohammed Amin Adam, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance.
The parties reached an agreement that an instruction be given for the payment of all outstanding coupons, including those due on May 15, 2023, to pensioners, that parties meet and reach an agreement on the payment of all outstanding principals to pensioners where five coupons and four principals were in arrears, ending the picketing on Monday, May 15, 2023.
GNA