The former Tema East Member of Parliament (MP), Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus Glover, has urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to listen to the cries of Ghanaians and exclude pensioners from the government's Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
Speaking in a TV3 interview on Tuesday, February 8, 2023, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Titus Glover said that including pensioners in the DDEP will be disastrous because most of them depend on their investments in bonds for their livelihood.
He added that the addition of pensioners to the programme will adversely affect the political fortunes of his party, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“I watched your (TV3’s) news at 7 o’clock Monday night, and I was seeing these old men and women holding placards; some of them were sick; I felt bad. These old guys have left their homes to come picket at the Ministry of Finance, appealing that we should take them out of this programme.
“How much does a pensioner earn... I want to make an appeal to the president that he should intervene for these pensioners.
“I’m making this passionate appeal; my mother is an old pensioner, and when I look at these people, it will be politically suicidal for our party in government to add them to the programme,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has warned that if individual bondholders are exempted from the ongoing DDEP, Ghana’s economy will be in shambles.
According to him, even though the decision and its consequence are dire, it is necessary for various individuals to sign willingly to the program to enable government function.
Addressing the concerns of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum after a picket at the Finance Ministry, Ofori-Atta added that the country is in a situation of “Boa Me Na Me Mboa Wo," to wit, “help me, let me help you,” hence bondholders should cooperate with the government to stabilize the economy.
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Former deputy Minister for Transport Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover