'We don't have time to go to court, we'll picket MoF some more' – Pension bondholders threaten

Pensioners who bought government bonds and have not been paid their coupons have threatened to picket the Ministry of Finance some more if they are not paid in 48 hours.

“We have our options, plenty of them, including the picketing, so, when it comes that we have to repeat, we’ll repeat”, the group’s convener Dr Adu Anane Antwi told Valentina Ofori-Afriyie on Class91.3FM’s mid-day news programme 12 Live.

Asked if the options included going to court, Dr Anane Antwi said: “No, we won’t go to court; we don’t have time to go to court”.

Responding to whether Ghanaians should expect more picketing from them, Dr Adu Anane Antwi said: “Yes, if that’s what the minister wants to see”.

A prominent member of that group is former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, who joined earlier picketings twice during the domestic debt restructuring programme.

Meanwhile, a group of individual bondholders has also expressed disappointment with the government’s failure to honour matured bonds for the third time as promised by the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on February 15th 2023.

The minister assured these bondholders who opted out of the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme of its commitment to have their coupons paid to them after two previous failed dates.

The members have expressed disappointment in the government for failing to pay them on the matured date of Monday, March 13, 2023.

In a statement, the bondholders said: “At the close of business on 13th March 2023, the Ministry of Finance, led by Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta, has disregarded all the basic rules that have been established to protect the integrity of the local markets and maintain sovereign credibility for Ghana. It is most unfortunate that the ministry continues to have absolute disregard for its creditors, in this case, Individual bondholders, despite prior meetings held in which we stated the need for communication.”

They reiterated that “the coupon and principal payments due to Individual Bondholders who opted out of the Voluntary Domestic Debt Exchange programme have not been paid, despite written press releases confirming the resumption of payments on 13th March 2023.”

The bondholders also bemoaned that “the umbrella regulator of the Securities markets – Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ghana – charged with a mandate to protect investors and market integrity have also maintained a loud silence throughout this period on the plight of Individual Bondholders.”

The group has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Ministry of Finance to honour its word to pay all matured principal and outstanding coupons due on the existing bonds issued by the Government of Ghana or they advise themselves.