For the third week running, members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum have protested outside the Finance Ministry, calling for the payment of all overdue coupons and principal on their bonds.
Since Monday, retirees have congregated at the Ministry from 10 to 11 a.m. every day while humming patriotic songs in an effort to put pressure on the government to honour the approximately 19 coupons and 3 principals that are still unpaid.
For the majority of retirees, the payment delay has an impact on both them and their dependents.
Some of the disgruntled members told Citi News, “All we want is our money paid. We were promised our money by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, but so far we haven’t gotten anything. We are keeping an eye on everything since we put a lot of effort into it. We will never let any of our money go unaccounted for. We are requesting our money; we are not requesting any social services. Please let the Finance Minister know that we must be paid as promised. If he had maintained his word, we wouldn’t be in this situation.
“I brought my two mentally challenged cousins, who depend on our families to buy their medications,” a furious group member yelled. We’ve driven two hours to be here with our Ghanaian friends to picket so we may get our discounts. Over GH2,000 is spent on just their meds. If so, to whom do we turn? We simply want our coupons; please provide them to us. We worked extremely hard to earn our money; after all, are we not human beings? What is our offence? You lack feeling? Look at the senior citizens sitting here. The kids will join me tomorrow because they need the money for school supplies.
The Pensioner Bondholders Forum May 9, stated that it will not sue the government over delays in the payment of outstanding coupons of its members.
On the second day of the Forum’s picketing at the Finance Ministry, the disclosure was made in an effort to persuade the government to pay the outstanding principle and coupons on bonds.
The group rejects going to court because, according to the Forum’s convener, Dr. Adu Anane Antwi, their condition is too serious to wait for the legal procedures to be completed.
“Since you can’t wait for your coupons when you’re in court and you’re dying, we won’t go to trial. The government needs to be under pressure to compensate us.