The former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, returned to join pensioner bondholders to picket at the premises of the Finance Ministry, demanding to be excluded from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
Sophia Akuffo first joined the picketers Friday to the chagrin of some stalwarts of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Leading NPP member of the NPP Gabby Otchere-Darko in a tweet slammed the former Chief Justice for picketing at the Finance Ministry. “Why picket over an offer that you have the liberty not to accept?” he quizzed.
Meanwhile, the government closed its Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) with over 80 percent participation of eligible bonds.
The programme, which was voluntary, was aimed at burden-sharing in the ongoing national effort to tackle the current economic crisis, bring back macroeconomic stability, and guarantee sustainable growth.
Its conclusion was protracted following five deadline extensions as various groups sought exemptions or improved terms to participate.
In a statement released today from the Finance Ministry, the government reassured all individual bondholders who decided not to participate that their coupon payments and maturing principals, like all Government bonds, “will be honoured in line with Government fiscal commitments.”
“We would like to stress that, all Individual bondholders, especially our Senior Citizens, should rest assured that their coupon payments and maturing principals, like all Government bonds, will be honoured in line with Government’s Fiscal commitments,” the Ministry said.
It reiterated that participation in the DDEP was voluntary and that individual bondholders were free not to participate, noting that “the right of the individual to self-exempt was never in doubt.”
