Individual bondholders petition Ofori-Atta for exclusion from DDE

Individual bondholders in Ghana have petitioned the Minister of Finance, Kenneth Ofori-Atta, to exclude them from government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.

According to them, their inclusion in the Programme since the notice was served on Saturday, December 24, 2022 has been “extremely unsettling and catastrophic for our membership and all others affected”.

They are, therefore, urging Mr Ofori-Atta to grant them exclusion from all variables of the Programme.

The petition was jointly signed by conveners Senyo Hosi, Franklin Cudjoe, David Tetteh, Thomas Manu, Yaw Owusu-Brefo, Philip Amoateng and Thelma Tawiah.

It was copied to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Chairman of Council of State Nana Otuo Siriboe II, Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin, Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu.

Under the umbrella body Ghana Individual Bondholders Forum (IBF), the individual bondholders accuse the Minister and the President of shortchanging them, having previously assured all Ghanaians that there will be no ‘haircuts’.

“Sir, let it not be said ever that during your tenure, your policies impoverished citizens whose primary duty to country was service and love through hard work and taxes,” part of the petition read.

“Your DDE as proposed for Individual Bondholders takes away our liberty to self-sustain, mocks hard work, and robs us of legally acquired property. None of these reflect the tenets of good governance.”