Assurance has already been given, there is no reason for you to be here – Ofori-Atta tells pensioners

The Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has told pensioners that there is no need for them to continue picketing over their inclusion in the debt exchange.

He told them that the assurance has been given to address their concerns.

“Really, there is no reason for us to be sitting here because that assurance has been given on paper. I want to know what it is that you are afraid of or that you think will not happen.

” My issue is that now you have very little of the old bonds existing. This means that, in the event of a crisis, your ability to trade your papers is diminished. But that is the choice you made,” Mr Ofori-Atta told them in Wednesday.

The pensioners have been picketing at the Ministry since Monday, February 6 to be exempted from the Programme.

A Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo earlier wondered why the Mr Ofori-Atta has failed to respond to their letter requesting for exemption of pensioners from the domestic debt exchange programme when he has done so for other groups.

She says it is becoming worrying that their concerns have not been addressed by the Minister.

Speaking to journalists in Accra after joining pensioners again to picket at the Ministry of Finance to protest their inclusion in the programme, on Tuesday, February 14, she said “A simple letter that was written by the association to the Minister of Finance that exempt us from your programme. That is the gist, I always like to distil things to their lowest common denominator, exempt us, we are pensioners. Up till now, I have seen a copy of the letter, it has been dated 7th January.

Up till now, there has not been a note of acknowledgement and just a few days similar letters that were written to the Minister have been responded to whereby he has categorically exempted other groups. Why? When I cannot fathom the reasons for something being done in a particular way especially when it has been done for others but it is not being done for others I start getting suspicious. I have grown to the age where I have seen it all.”

Ms Sophia Akuffo first joined the group of pensioners to picket at the Finance Ministry on Friday, February 10 against their inclusion in the debt exchange.

Speaking to journalists she said “These are all people who have worked, they have worked very hard, they could have left the country when others were going but they stayed, they worked for the nation.

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“We have had our ups and downs. A lot of us were from generations where we were encouraged to save for tomorrow and all that. We have been through times where all your savings become nonsense because of some government policies, then over the years, bit by bit, people have become more confident in the economy and investments.

Quite a number of people here today, when they retired last two years they have put everything into government bonds, it is a contract and now all of a sudden, you virtually want to, at gunpoint, force them to agree with you that the repayment of the yield of their investment should be as you dictate it. Why?”

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