The Pensioner Bondholders Forum is set to recommence their protest outside the Finance Ministry today due to the government’s failure to fulfill their obligations of paying the matured coupons and principals.
This marks the second time in three weeks that the pensioners are staging a demonstration to demand the payment of their coupons and principals.
According to the group, the Finance Ministry has not yet made the payments for the matured coupons that were due on May 15th and subsequent maturities.
On May 12, the Forum temporarily suspended their picketing after a meeting with the Finance Ministry, during which they sought assurance that all outstanding coupons would be paid. However, despite waiting for weeks to engage with the Finance Ministry and receive a payment plan, the Pensioner Bondholders claim to have received no response.
On Wednesday, May 24, the Forum members warned that they would not be swayed by further promises, as the government has failed to honor several previous commitments to pay all outstanding matured coupons.
The decision to resume picketing has been taken following the government’s lack of response to letters sent to the Finance Ministry, which demanded concrete timelines for payment.
“I don’t understand why people in authority behave that way. When you are in authority and people write you a letter, at least just respond, tell them, I have received your letter, and we are working on it because if somebody wastes his time to write you, and you don’t respond, then you ask yourself, is it that you think you are not supposed to respond, or you are too busy to respond, or you think that this is not necessary,” Convenor for the Forum, Dr. Adu Anane Antwi lamented in a Citi News interview.
