He maintained that the voluntary exercise was over and the government would honor its obligations to bondholders, including retirees who voluntarily opted out of the program.
Addressing pensioners on Wednesday, February 15, the Minister of Finance stated that the current picketing is unnecessary.
“Indeed, there is no reason for us to sit here because the guarantee has been given on paper. I want to know what you fear or what you think will never happen. My problem is that now you have some old bonds lying around. This means that, in the event of a crisis, your ability to trade your paper is reduced. But that is a choice you make,” Mr Ofori-Atta said.
The engagement was interrupted by Oliver Barker-Vormawor, an organizer of the pressure group #FixTheCountry who came to lend his support to the pickets who accused the Minister of untrustworthiness.
“It is important because our conversation is about building a culture of protest. A culture where people who are affected by public policy decisions by political officers do not sit back, but raise their voices and match those voices with the determination to show up when it matters.
“When this happens, it is also important that people can be inspired with a spirit of resistance. So with what this pensioner has shown, it is important that we, the young, also appear to them by mobilizing people to continue the message of resistance expressed even though age”, Barker-Vormawor emphasized.
This disturbance enraged the Minister who was later removed by his security.