Ace Journalist, Kwesi Pratt Jr says the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) led by PresidenAkufo-Addo unfulfilled promises to pension bondholders to exclude them from the domestic debt exchange program and release their matured bonds due to their ‘peaceful’ protest.
The government’s pledge to pay pensioner bondholders has yet again failed after it gave 48 hours ultimatum to offset the debts.
This follows an attempt to pay bondholders in February 2023 but did not materialize.
An earlier press release by the Coalition of Individual Bondholders Groups indicated that the coupon and principal payments due to individual bondholders who opted out of the Voluntary Debt Exchange programme have not been paid despite a written press release to confirm the resumption of payments on the 13th March 2023.
But contrary to this, the Ministry of Finance has countered its initial statement to suggest that they are on course with processes to settle payments.
However, the editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jr. believes that the redundancy of the government to honour its promises to pensioner bondholders is not only a reducer of confidence but also going to have a devastating impact on their quest to revive and revamp the economy.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme, Mr. Pratt also stated that the continuous dishonour of promises to the bondholders is a registration of no respect for the systems in the country.
He also believes that the actions of the Group are lame and weak which is not going to attract the government to do the right thing.
He describes them as not being angry enough.
“Those pickets will not compel any government to do the will of the people. I mean if you mass up 50 to 100 people sitting comfortably in chairs and singing in low tunes and so on, it is not sufficient to compel the government or ministries or ministers to do the will of the people.”
Mr. Pratt admonished Ghanaians to demonstrate the change they need for the government to do their bidding.
Meanwhile, the government’s communicator, Eric Amoako Twum who was also a panelist, however, pleaded with Ghanaians not to lose faith in the government but blamed the delay on possible paperwork or collations.
By Leonora Enyonam Annoh | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
