The convener of the Pensioner Bondholder Forum has requested that the Finance Minister issues an official statement indicating that pension funds have been exempted from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

Dr Adu Anane Antwi said, the lack of an authoritative response from the issuer to the petition of pensioners to be exempted from the programme is worrying.

The deadline for the DDEP has elapsed with the Ministry confirming about 80% participation.

Government has also assured persons who refused to participate in the exchange that they will be paid their outstanding coupons and maturing principals. 

But the pensioners are not satisfied with the assurance.

Dr Antwi is urging the government to confirm their exemption in a letter, just as it had done for the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and other groups.

On the seventh day of the protest by the Pensioner Bondholders Forum against the inclusion of their investments in the DDEP, February 14, Dr Antwi said, “the issuer wants us to be self-exempt; that is not what we want. We want the issuer to exempt us, as it exempted pension funds as it has exempted the medical association’s funds.

“Last three days or so … when the medical people wrote a letter to the minister or made a press statement, the minister has responded a letter to them saying you are exempted just as the pension funds have been exempted

“Otherwise, we will continue to fight until that word is used by the minister in a letter to us.”

The convener further expressed his inability to comprehend the reason the Finance Minister has been reluctant to issue an official statement to indicate the exemption of pensioners.

He asked, “what is preventing the Minister from responding to our letter that we wrote, if now you think that you have exempted us, or you think what you have brought out to the public amounts to exemption, what is your difficulty taking a letter and writing to the pensioners that: I refer to your letter so so and so, please be assured that your bonds are exempted?”

Dr Antwi also explained the distinction between the government exempting a party from the debt exchange program and a party exempting themselves of their own volition, claiming that the government and the Finance Ministry were aware of these distinctions. 

“When the issuer exempts you, he has added responsibility because you were not part of the bonds that the issuer says he may not be able to service,” he explained.

Dr Anane went on to say that it was for this reason that the Pensioner Bondholders Forum was pushing for the government to officially recognise them as being excluded from the program. 

“The word exempted, if the minister does not want to use the word, the problem will not be solved … we did not decide to exempt ourselves.

“We waited for the minister to exempt us, but he didn’t exempt us and once the period is closed, we become self-exempted people. That is not what we want,” he stated.

Eventually, Dr Antwi disclosed that pensioners were demanding that the Finance Minister officially respond to their petition sent to him on January 10 and then issue a statement that explicitly states that pensioners have been exempted from the DDEP.