Minister for Finance Ken Ofori-Atta has refuted claims that he has neglected the pensioners who have been picketing to protest their inclusion in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
Speaking on the floor of Parliament today, Thursday, February 16, 2023, Ken Ofori-Atta said he had met the pensioners and explained the terms of the new bond to them three times.
“Government is committed to the wellbeing of our senior citizens and pensioners. The government will honour their coupon payments and maturing principles.
“I have met with them on three occasions, where I explained the terms of the new bonds. “I subsequently wrote to their convener to let him know that all pensioners who did not participate in the bond offerings are exempt,” Ken Ofori-Atta told Parliament.
This statement by Ofori-Atta is in contrary to what Former Chief, Justice Sophia Akuffo had said early on.
Justice Sophia Akuffo has expressed displeasure in the failure of the Minister of Finance to respond to a letter requesting for exemption of pensioners from the domestic debt exchange programme.
According to the former chief justice, Ken Ofori-Atta has responded to similar letters submitted by other groups.
Sophia Akuffo said this while speaking with pressmen after another picket at the Finance Ministry on February 14, 2023.
She argued that the fact that the concerns of the pensioners have not been addressed is worrying.
Read Also: Ofori-Atta yet to respond to pensioners’ letter- Sophia Akuffo
Sophia Akuffo said it was becoming worrying that their concerns had not been addressed by the minister.
“A simple letter that was written by the association to the Minister of Finance exempts us from your programme. That is the gist, I always like to distill things to their lowest common denominator. Exempt us; we are pensioners. Up till now, I have seen a copy of the letter; it is dated January 7.
“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 is not being done for others, I started getting suspicious; I have grown to be an age where I have seen it all,” she added.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu