A former Chief Justice of the Republic, Sophia Abena Boafowa Akuffo, has joined other pensioners at the Finance Ministry to demand exemption from government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
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.
Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo joins picketing pensioners against Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
The pensioners have been picketing at the Ministry since Monday, February 6 to be exempted from the Programme.
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By Felix Anim-Appau|Onuaonline.com
