65-year-old pensioner contemplates suicide over government’s Debt Exchange Programme

A 65-year-old government of Ghana bondholder, Larry Jiagge has stated that he will be compelled to contemplate committing suicide if the government goes ahead to include individual bonds in its Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.

The pensioner in an interview with Joynews said he invested his severance package into government bonds and that he will face serious challenges if his coupons are withheld.

According to Mr. Jaigge who depends on his coupons for feeding and medication, the government is not being transparent.

“Why can’t they (government) be very specific and tell us that if we don’t participate we will lose our money, then some of us will commit suicide rather than go through the pain.”

“The information out there is very minimal. You will talk to your bankers and they will tell you that is all the information we have, this is what we’ve been told. We are also waiting for additional information,” he said.

The government of Ghana, as part of its Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, has outlined a 15-year plan in which domestic bondholders will have the maturity of their investments spread over the period.

But according to the pensioner, he is not certain about living up to 15 years.

“I am 65 and assuming they spread my bond for 15 years, I will be 80 years old then, and very few men in my family cross 80. Am I going to access my capital in my grave? Those taking this decision, are they thinking about pensioners, grown people who have to buy drugs? The unemployed who lost their jobs during the financial sector restructuring and whatever they have they invested in government securities? Have we committed any crime?” he asked.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Individual Bondholders Forum (IBF), a group of voluntary bondholders, has also urged individual bondholders to reject and refrain from complying with the mandatory deadline imposed under the Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) programme.

“This arrangement irreversibly takes away the wealth and livelihoods of direct and indirect individual bondholders whose only crime has been to trust their government. Tied to this is a mandatory deadline which compels holders to either accept the government’s offer or risk the threat of prohibitive losses,” the IBF has said.



GA/WA