Pensioner Bondholders suspend picketing at Finance Ministry after reaching payment agreement with government

Members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum have with effect from Monday, 15th May 2023 suspended their picketing the Finance Ministry.

The suspension of the protests follows what leadership of the pensioners say agreements reached with the Finance Ministry to get their outstanding coupons and principals.

They however promised to resume their protests should the Ministry renege on any of the agreed agreements.

A statement issued by the convener of the forum, Dr. Adu Anane Antwi on Saturday said among other things points, the parties agreed on the following;

• The Ministry to give instruction for the payment of all outstanding coupons (including those due on 15th May 2023) to pensioners by 15th May 2023.
• The Ministry to pay subsequent coupons to pensioners on due days.
• The Ministry and Pensioner Bondholders to, in the next few days, meet and reach agreement on the payment of all outstanding principals to pensioners.

Members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum opted out of the government’s Debt Exchange Programme and were promised payments of their coupons and principals upon maturity, however due payments have on occasions delayed, leading to their picketing the Finance Ministry for payments.

“Should the Ministry renege on any of the agreed points, we shall resume picketing the Ministry,” the statement added.

The retirees from Monday, May 8, have been gathering at the Ministry from 10 am to 11 am every day chanting patriotic songs in the hope that their presence will pile pressure on government to honour the about 19 coupons and 3 principals outstanding.

For most pensioners, the delay in payment does not only affect them but their dependents also.

An aggrieved member in a media interview narrated his frustration and called on the government to urgently pay them their monies.

“All we want is our monies to be paid. The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, promised to give us our money, but up till now we have not received anything.

“We are monitoring everything because we worked hard, there’s no way any of our monies will go unpaid that we will not track. We are not asking for any social services, we are asking for our money.

“Please convey to the Finance Minister that he must keep his word and pay us. We wouldn’t be here if he had kept his promise,” he said.

However, the government agreed to pay all outstanding coupons to them.

At the instance of the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Dr Adam Amin, a meeting was convened on Friday, May 12, the government assured the pensioners to pay all outstanding coupons while discussions surrounding principal payments continue.