About 100 customers of the defunct Gold Coast Fund Management have begun picketing the Finance Ministry to mount pressure on the government to release their lock-up funds.

According to the aggrieved customers, the picketing to last 32 hours is expected to force the government to pay heed to their grievances.

A report by CitiNews quotes a protestor as saying that he could not comprehend how he would struggle for 33 years of his life so he could invest and enjoy a good life during his retirement, only for his dream to be cut short following the collapse of the financial institution.

“I’m 66 years old; what is happening is incomprehensible. Imagine me working half of my lifetime and investing my money with the view that when I come on retirement, I will use part of it for my upkeep because at that stage I can’t do anything anymore. And you sort of destroyed the investment I have made.”

“The lie in the air is that they have paid us. And even President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo believes they used so much to pay us. He’s being misinformed, and that is why he comes on air and says strange things. The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has been misinforming him. It’s very disheartening.”

Another protestor said he was now unable to pay his children’s fees which has forced them [his children] to remain home although it is time for them to pursue higher education.

He stressed that they had been promised that after Dr Mahamudu Bawumia won the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential primaries, their funds would be released.

He said the delay by the government in fulfilling the promise has forced him to join the picketing exercise.

Another customer accused the government of not being attentive to the plight of the citizenry, adding that the government tried to worsen their woes rather than alleviate the pain.

The customer said, “The government has locked up part of our money. In a high order, they don’t want to listen to us. We have to reconvene today; the money is huge and it’s affecting my life. I was a businessman, and because of the locked-up funds, I was in the house doing nothing. The government must listen to our call, heed to our plea, and pay us.”