Wednesday was a chaotic day at the Ministry of Finance as a result of the engagement of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta in a conversation with pensioner bondholders who were picketing at the premises for the eighth time to demand exemption from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a convener for the pressure group #FixTheCountry, who had come to lend support to the picketers who were accusing the minister of being untrustworthy, interrupted the minister as he was attempting to understand the concerns of the picketers.
The minister was attempting to understand the concerns of the picketers but was interrupted by Oliver Barker-Vormawor.
“It is significant since the topic of our discussion has been the establishment of a culture of dissent. A culture in which people whose lives are impacted by the decisions made by political officers about public policy do not remain silent but instead speak out and match the volume of their words with the will to be present when it counts.
“When these things are happening, it is also necessary that people are motivated by them in the spirit of resilience. This is why it is important that this is happening.
“It is necessary that we, the young ones, also show up for them by mobilizing others to carry forward the message of resistance, even with their age,” Barker-Vormawor said. “With what these pensioners have shown, it is important that we, the young ones, also show up for them.”
Because of this interruption, the minister became irate, and security quickly removed him from the room.
After the completion of the program and the achievement of the desired participation rate, the minister informed the retirees that it was no longer required for them to continue their continuous picketing because the program had been terminated.
“In all seriousness, there is no purpose for us to be sitting here because that guarantee has been written down,” the speaker said. I am curious as to the nature of your anxieties and the reasons you believe they will not materialize into reality.
My issue is that there are so few of the old bonds that are still in existence. This indicates that your ability to swap your papers in the case of a crisis is decreased as a result of this situation. But you did make that decision on your own.