Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has been warned by the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin, not to touch pensioner funds. He stated that the current economic crisis does not require the money of retirees to be resolved.
On Thursday, February 16, as the House of Representatives was winding up its business for the day, the former Member of Parliament for Nadowli Kaleo stated that Parliament will resist any attempt to include funds belonging to pensioners in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
Already, the Minister of Finance has confirmed that any pensioner who did not successfully exchange their old bonds for new ones as part of the exercise will not be required to participate in the program. This decision was made in advance.
The government said in a press release that the pensioners’ participation in the debt restructuring was entirely optional. But the angry pensioners insist that Minister must make it official and say that their bonds are not part of the debt restructuring.
Several notable people, such as the former chief justice of Ghana, Sophia Akuffo, participated in a protest of pensioners outside the Ministry of Finance in Accra.
While spilling out her frustration to journalists in Accra, she said, “These are all people who have worked, they have worked very hard, they could have left the country when others were going but they stayed, they worked for the nation.
In his address to Parliament regarding the status of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, Ofori-Atta stated that the pensioners do not need to be worried about anything.
Additionally, Mr. Ofori-Atta has formally communicated with the bondholders who are pensioners but have not signed onto the Programme to inform them that they are exempt from the exercise.
Source – Tru News Report
