Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has described the inclusion of pensioners fund in government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme as “unlawful, wicked, disrespectful and totally wrong.”
Madam Akuffo who joined other pensioners to picket the Finance Ministry to demand exemption from the programme.
In an engagement with the media, the former head of Ghana’s Judiciary expressed disappointment over the lack of accountability which has resulted in government seeking a debt restructuring to patch up the economy.
According to her, government must accord the elderly some respect “because you don’t solve your problems by sacrificing the aged.”
“…Why are we in the mess we are in? Nobody has fully explained to us. Yes, debt, okay fine, we took [loans], what was it used for? Where is the accountability? Exactly what was it used for?
“You’re not telling us about how you’re going to be able to make things better but just that help me and I’ll help you. No, you help yourself first. Let me see you do something serious because we’ve seen these sort of things too many times,” Madam Akuffo indicated.
Government as part of modalities to make headway with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its bailout has to restructure its debt both domestically and externally.
It had earlier intended to include pensions funds which was resisted by organised labour.
Meanwhile, it later turned out government was clandestinely dipping into the funds despite the agreement reached with the labour unions.
The resistance by the labour unions was emulated by other stakeholders including individual bondholders and pensioners.
As a result, pensioners who have used their pension funds to purchase government bonds have picketed the Ministry of Finance five days running demanding exemption from the programme.
The senior citizens have been sitting at the ministry’s premises from Monday, with today being Day 5 since they began their peaceful protest.
They are raising concerns over their health needs which mainly is sorted from their bond proceeds asking government to reconsider adding their bonds to its debt restructuring.
The programme requires participants to sign documents to exchange their existing bonds for new ones which would be paid in a period longer than the initially agreed one.
The former Chief Justice who is also a pensioner and has purchased bonds with her pension fund has joined her colleagues at the Finance Ministry today, Friday, February 10, 2023, demanding exclusion from the programme which many have described as unpopular.
By Felix Anim-Appau|Onuaonline.com
