Pensioner bondholders reject attempts to include members in 12.9bn restructuring | AM News
AM News with Benjamin Akakpo on JoyNews (19-9-23)
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Transcript
00:00 Welcome to the News Belt on the AM Show.
00:03 Now in our first story, members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum have threatened to resume
00:08 picketing the Finance Ministry if government goes ahead to include them in the new domestic
00:14 debt exchange programme.
00:16 The Finance Ministry has in a statement announced its intention of restructuring another 12.9
00:21 billion CDs as it calls on all bondholders who have not participated in the initial programme
00:26 to tender their bonds by September 22nd, 2023.
00:31 This includes investors whom government has described as eligible holders of over 59 years.
00:39 But at a press conference on Monday, members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum warned
00:42 they would picket the Finance Ministry again if government roped them into the programme.
00:48 My colleague James Aveji has more in this report.
00:51 Between February and June 2023, members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum picketed the
00:57 Finance Ministry demanding a total exemption from the government's domestic debt exchange
01:03 programme.
01:04 After a back and forth between the two parties, an agreement was reached.
01:09 That agreement granted a total exemption from the domestic debt exchange programme to the
01:15 Pensioner Bondholders Forum.
01:17 But in a statement dated 13 September 2023, the bondholders say government is attempting
01:24 to rope them into another debt exchange programme.
01:28 They have been classified under Category B of that statement.
01:33 They are expected to submit their bonds to the Finance Ministry for a new term.
01:38 But at a press conference on Monday morning, members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum
01:44 say they cannot be included in the new domestic debt exchange programme.
01:49 Dr Edwana Nyenchi is convener of the group.
01:53 We believe that the inclusion of Category B holders, that is pensioners, in the invitation
01:58 is irregular for the following reasons.
02:03 Category B holders, that is the pensioners, who did not tender their bonds were on 16
02:09 February 2023 exempted from the DDEP.
02:14 Effectively, natural persons 49 years old and above, as of 1 January 2023, who did not
02:23 tender their bonds and were subsequently exempted from the DDEP, are not part of persons who
02:31 could not participate in the DDEP.
02:35 Our response to these statements is that natural persons 59 years old or older, as of 1 January,
02:43 are not part of holders of illegible bonds who did not participate in the February 2023
02:51 exchange on term.
02:54 They were exempted from the DDEP.
02:57 We have advised that the government should not create a situation that will result in
03:03 pensioners not receiving their coupons and principals on due dates.
03:10 According to Dr Edwana Nyenchi, they have sent a reminder letter to the Ministry of
03:15 Finance and Government reminding them of the exemption they have granted to the pensioner
03:22 bond holders.
03:23 He says if they do not hear anything from government in the coming days or are not exempted,
03:30 they will have no option than to resume their picketing.
03:34 We have already informed the whole world that any time our coupon or principal is in arrears,
03:42 the only thing we will do is to picket the ministry, as we have done.
03:50 We will do that if the ministry delays in paying our coupons and principals when the
04:01 principal is due to be paid.
04:03 So that is what we are going to do.
04:06 Meanwhile, the pensioner bond holders are hopeful that government will honour it was
04:12 in the letter of exemption granted to the pensioner bond holders.
04:17 Reporting for Joy News from the Kloxack Auditorium here in Accra, my name is James Avedis.
04:27 Now in respect of the chilling account of how a house help murdered his madam in cold
04:32 blood at Sokoman Apasu in Kumasi, some details have emerged.
04:37 The details contained in court documents revealed the second, the accused, actually John Alistair,
04:43 got hired a day after applying for the position of a house help from an Accra-based employment
04:48 agency and allegedly committed the murder six days after resuming work.
04:54 The Asokori-Mampong District Court was told how the key suspect applied to become a house
04:58 help and got posted the following day to his new employer.
05:02 He ended up murdering.
05:04 My colleague Goheme Ntewia was in court and came through with this report.
05:13 Alistair applied for work on September 4, 2023 and resumed work the following day, assigned
05:20 to the woman he allegedly murdered in Kumasi.
05:24 On September 11, 2023, at about 11 a.m., moments after the disease had prepared for food she
05:31 enjoyed with the accused, she was stabbed in the stomach, hit several times on the head
05:37 and face with a club.
05:39 The accused is said to have taken advantage of the absence of the 11-year-old daughter
05:44 of his mother, who had gone to school.
05:48 According to police, Alistair, after committing the act, invited the second and third accused
05:53 persons, that is James Anoche and Paulette Wan Collins, to the home of the deceased and
05:59 bolted with a Kia Sportage vehicle with registration GS307-21, Samsung mobile phone, rice, cooking
06:09 oil and other valuable items.
06:12 They then escaped to Accra, made contact with Biggie, a Ford accomplice who is at large,
06:20 to sell the vehicle to Christian Obu, the Fiat accomplice who is also at large.
06:25 Alistair, after the sale of his madam's Kia Sportage vehicle, used some of the proceeds
06:31 to buy a Toyota Vitcar with registration number GS3107-23.
06:38 Whilst the second, third and fourth accomplices were being pursued, the fifth accused person
06:44 abandoned the Kia Sportage vehicle at Uyibi police station and bolted.
06:49 Following a report to the police, the crime scene management team discovered the body
06:55 of the late Stella Osei, also known as Princess Efuya Ahinkai, in the garage of her Aparso
07:01 home.
07:02 A blood-stained club, believed to have been used by the accused person to murder the woman,
07:08 was also discovered at the crime scene on Tuesday, 12 September 2023.
07:14 A police intelligence-led operation led to the arrest of the first and second accused
07:19 persons in their hideouts in Accra on September 14, 2023.
07:24 The two were then escorted to face trial in Kumasi.
07:28 Prosecution, led by ASP Steve Lofori, prayed in court to grant a request to release the
07:35 Kia Sportage to the husband of the deceased, whilst a Toyota Vit vehicle, acquired with
07:40 proceeds from the crime, is also impounded by police.
07:45 Despite the plea of the accused persons not being taken, the Kia suspect broke bounds,
07:51 raised his hand and signalled the court he had something to say.
07:56 He told the court he has accepted responsibility and pleaded with the court to be lenient with
08:02 him before the Asokwe Mampong District Court.
08:06 And prosecution, led by ASP Steve Lofori, says due process would be followed in the
08:11 trial.
08:12 "This is a case of murder and due process has to be followed.
08:16 Even though he has told the court that he admits whatever happened, but the due process
08:20 must follow.
08:21 So when the case is completed, it will be forwarded to AG for his advice before the
08:26 process will start."
08:27 A father-in-law to the deceased, Yau Yau Bua, who witnessed proceedings in court, says
08:33 he was saddened to hear five persons were involved in the murder.
08:37 According to him, the husband of the deceased, who is based in the United Kingdom, has been
08:43 crying all day over the callous murder of his wife.
08:51 From Asokwe Mampong for JOY News, Waimea Interior reporting.
09:02 Now a number of commuters for the second day running are stranded at the Wa-Sawla-Bole
09:08 Highway following torrential rains in the area that broke the banks of the Doolit River.
09:14 The only option for the stranded commuters are two canoes that can ferry them from one
09:19 end to the other for 10 Ghana CDs as a fare, excluding luggage charges.
09:26 Upper West Regional Correspondent Rafiq Salam, who traveled to the area, reports that there
09:30 is spontaneous increase in transport fares as passengers who wish to travel along the
09:35 route need to do a detour of an extra 200 kilometers to reach their destinations.
09:42 The 12-hour Sunday rain came in torrents.
09:47 Its intensity has never been seen in the enclave for decades.
09:53 The effect is catastrophic and of monumental proportion.
09:58 The Doolit River, that has not been desalted for over two decades, broke its banks as a
10:04 result of the violent flash floods and cut the highway into two equal halves.
10:10 Males of commuters got stranded on both sides of the highway.
10:16 The well-compacted gravel-sealed bitumen was completely washed off, leaving only the skeleton
10:22 of the concrete bridge.
10:24 There was no human casualties, but farms closer to the waterways were destroyed.
10:31 Passengers wishing to continue their journey only have one option, two canoes to ferry
10:36 them from one end to the other at 10 Ghana CDs, excluding luggage charges.
10:43 I am Karim Alud.
10:45 What I'm going to do is business to eat with my mother and my brothers.
10:50 So it's very difficult to cross.
10:52 So where is the vehicle for you to pass with?
10:55 No vehicle.
10:56 We are using just some small ship to cross to Bole.
11:01 A ship to where?
11:02 Bole.
11:03 Ship?
11:04 Where is the ship?
11:05 There is no ship there.
11:06 Thank you very much.
11:07 You can come see.
11:08 However, if you are faint-hearted and ask for a beer, for the quarter, that is about
11:09 the size of a football field.
11:10 You have to take a detour for 200 kilometers.
11:11 I have to take a detour for 200 kilometers.
11:12 I have to take a detour for 200 kilometers.
11:13 I have to take a detour for 200 kilometers.
11:14 I have to take a detour for 200 kilometers.
11:15 I have to take a detour for 200 kilometers.
11:16 I have to take a detour for 200 kilometers.
11:17 I have to take a detour for 200 kilometers.
11:18 I have to take a detour for 200 kilometers.
11:25 I have to take a detour for 200 kilometers.
11:28 Communication lines were also destroyed by the flash floods.
11:32 So this is the fiber cable and they are also trying to retrieve the cable to enable them
11:37 to restore the lines of these communication services here.
11:41 So you can see that one of them is from Bole Formosa.
11:43 Tell me, what's your name?
11:44 I'm Emmanuel Barberi.
11:45 Okay, what are you doing now?
11:46 We are trying to restore the link.
11:49 This link has affected so many sites.
11:52 So yesterday we were here but we couldn't restore it due to the water content.
11:56 It's today that we came back and we have access to the cable and we are now trying to lay
12:00 the cable across so that we do temporary work and later on we come and do the normal work.
12:05 Savannah Regional Minister Saeed Jibril Mwazu, accompanied by his opposite number from the
12:11 Upper West Region, Dr. Hafiz Bin Sali, visited the affected area to get first-hand information
12:18 with a view to fixing it.
12:20 We were here in 1993 and since then we've been doing spot improvements on the road.
12:27 But the major works have not been done.
12:31 But so far we've seen that the level of destruction is something that we have to take seriously
12:39 and also to make sure that we get the road more trouble very, very soon.
12:44 Even before coming here, we had made contacts with the road minister, the chief director,
12:50 the chief executive of the Ghana Highway Authority to ensure that we get a speedy remedy to what
12:57 has happened.
12:58 The Upper West Region is severely hit.
13:01 The incident has resulted in spontaneous increments of transport fees, specifically persons travelling
13:09 to Kumasi or Accra.
13:11 The Ghana Private Road Transport Union, GPLTU, has upped the transport fees from Mwa to Kumasi
13:19 by 40 Ghana CDs.
13:21 Alajinu Mahama is a senior industrial relations officer of the Upper West Branch of the GPLTU
13:28 and he defends the increment.
13:30 We have added 40 Ghana CDs to the 140, making it 180 Ghana CDs.
13:37 Don't you think that is too high a price?
13:40 In fact, we are very sympathetic with our transport, I mean, our travelling public.
13:47 Even though we were intending to increase it from 140 to 200, realizing the cost of
13:57 the fuel and the distance, but we said we have to be sympathetic with them, so we reduced
14:03 it to 40 instead of 50.
14:06 For the VIP buses travelling to Accra, they have only done an increment of 20 Ghana CDs.
14:13 Oliraman Salifu is the world manager of VIP.
14:18 The 20 CD is not too high.
14:19 If you look at it, the 20 CD increment is not up to 20 gallons of fuel.
14:26 And that place, looking at it, about a 90 miles upradially.
14:30 That's upradially 90 miles freely.
14:33 So due to that, if you don't add anything, you can't be able to cover.
14:36 And there can be a tightness or there can be a difference in the car.
14:41 Passengers are however not happy with the increment in the transport fares.
14:46 Both, the long journey, one, the increments, two, and the time.
14:59 So once there's an increment, the journey will be stressful.
15:03 I think that's the thing that we are going to face, will be stressful because inasmuch
15:08 as we have been passing the other road, we might not be stressful.
15:14 But this one, the road is a bit longer.
15:18 From the look of things, it appears the highways will not be fixed permanently in the next
15:24 few days.
15:25 What government need to do however to assuage the pain and frustration of commuters is to
15:31 create a diversion to enable them to have easy access from one end of the highway to
15:36 the other.
15:37 Vehicles are parked here and also their mates, their mates are looking for passengers.
15:43 So you can see that they are calling passengers to come and join their vehicles for them to
15:48 move into the upper coast region.
15:51 Reporting for Joy News, Rafiq Salam, Joli, Savannah region.
15:56 Well, the road from Denyame to Edum in Kumasi is the latest breeding ground for criminal
16:04 activity with several instances of robbery and murder.
16:08 And for months now, roads in the area have been without streetlights.
16:12 The few around are defective.
16:14 Emmanuel Bright Quaker reports that many motorists who ply the stretch during the day are finding
16:20 alternatively safer but longer routes to their destinations at night.
16:25 Pitch darkness as one of the roads to Denyame-Edum road.
16:33 For months now, the area has been plunged into darkness.
16:37 Bushes along the darkened stretch are hideouts for criminals, especially for robbers who
16:42 snatch people's valuables, including phones and bags.
16:49 This driver recounts a near-theft experience which happened just before I interviewed him.
17:01 One robber tried whisking away the phone of one police officer who was in my car, but
17:07 a passenger who sat in the back seat swiftly hit the hand of the robber and he left the
17:12 phone.
17:23 The area is only illuminated by the bright daylight and the headlight of vehicles at
17:28 night, numbering about 10.
17:30 The streetlights erected along the stretch have been intermittently dysfunctional for
17:34 months now, with some of them falling apart.
17:38 The bulbs of the streetlights have been shattered.
17:41 The stretch is occupied by hawkers during the day, but they must end their trade hurriedly
17:46 when dusk beckons.
17:48 The area has recorded at least two murder cases.
18:03 They come here around 3pm and hide in the bushes.
18:07 They've killed two people here.
18:09 They cut the victim's hands and he died.
18:13 the streetlights.
18:14 The streetlights are cut off.
18:15 The police have cut off the streetlights.
18:16 The streetlights are cut off.
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21:01 We'll be right back.
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