Convener of the Individual Bondholders Forum, Martin Kpebu has called out Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta for saying Ghana’s economy will collapse by March if government is not able to secure the IMF loan.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta on Monday, February 6, pleaded with the pensioners to accept a 3.5% cut and accept the new terms of 15% coupon rate and 5% maturity.
“We really feel that government has listened, there is humanity to us, we are protecting the destitute, widows and the orphans and the older people who have worked for this nation. We are in a crisis, we cannot put our heads under the sun and pretend that we are not . . .
“We need to be mindful that we really need to be successful in going to the fund by this March to avoid what we all experienced last year which we all don’t want to experience again,” he stated.
Speaking in reaction to this in an interview on Peace FM’s morning show ‘Kokrokoo’, he asked the Finance Minister not to abuse his office.
“Ghana won’t collapse. Anyone who will say Ghana will collapse is being deceitful. It’s just scaremongering, which is bad . . . it’s just an abuse of office. It’s never true . . . in the worst-case scenario, what we would have to do is to reduce the 3 billion,” he intimated.
Article 36:1 of the 1992 constitution clearly says “the state shall take all necessary action to ensure that the national economy is managed in such a manner as to maximize the rate of economic development and to secure maximum welfare and to provide adequate means of livelihood and suitable employment” . . . “You’ve not been able to do this yet you want to take what we’ve struggled to put down,” he added.
Ofori-Atta pleads with individual Bondholders
Ken Ofori-Atta in his address also called on eligible individual bondholders to voluntarily tender their holdings and participate fully in the DDEP in order to ensure the success of the government’s debt operation.
However, Martin Kpebu has urged individual bondholders not to accept the new amendment made by government.
“We urge our members not to accept this new agreement. They shouldn’t sign it . . .” he said.
Source: peacefmonline.com
