Ghana’s former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo on Friday (10 February) joined pensioners, who have been picketing at the Finance Ministry for the government to exempt them from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
The government has announced an administrative window for bondholders to complete processes for tendering their bonds in signing up to the DDEP, adding that the deadline is at 4pm on Friday 10 February 2023.
It is the fifth time that members of the pensioner bondholders’ forum are picketing at the Finance Ministry to demand a total exemption of their investments from the debt swap.
The government has proposed a 15% coupon rate, however, the pensioners are rejecting it.
The former Chief Justice Akuffo held a placard in solidarity with the senior citizens.
“We use our bond yields to pay our… rents, medical bills, electricity bills and water bills,” a placard she was wielding said.
The former Chief Justice described as wicked and insensitive the decision by the Finance Ministry to include bonds of pensioners in the programme.
“A lot of us are from the generation where we were always encouraged to save and quite a number of people here today when they retired put their savings into government bonds.
And now all of a sudden you eventually want to at gun point force them to agree with you that the yield of their investment should be as you dictate it. Why?” she asked.
“It’s important that the elderly in this nation should be respected. I find this wicked and disrespectful and unlawful because you don’t solve your problem by sacrificing the aged,” Akuffo added.
SOURCE: asaaseradio.com
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