Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo has said governments search for three billion dollars from the International Monitory Fund (IMF) by the President Nana Akufo-Addo led government should not destroy over hundred billion of Ghanaian resources.
At a press conference on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, Mr. Adongo served notice to investors, banks and pension funds managers that the Bank of Ghana is not their friend and added that the security and exchange commission as well is not their friend.
He added that the Pension Regulatory Authority is not with them as well as the National Insurance Commission as they are all in bed with government to destroy their share holding resources in these financial institutions.
“We urge the Banks and financial institutions and the pension funds to rise up and seek to reclaim their position and protect investors’ funds. Some of us together with friendly investors and financial analyst will support them to fight this government to the hills”, he warned.
Mr. Isaac Adongo agreed that Ghana needs a restructuring but not an illegal unilateral and arrogant misappropriation of people’s resources. “This is the time to call on activist investment lawyers to step up and claim their position in Ghana.
He said he will not tolerate the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta or anybody at all who arrogate to themselves powers they do not have to shred people’s contract and treat them with impunity. “The battle has just started”, he stated.
According to Mr. Adongo, the pronouncement made by the finance minister signaled that government has the intention not to meet its debt obligation, and on the basis of that put out a proposal that he want to give to bondholders what he calls the bond exchange programme and it has come to their attention that on the 18th of this month, the chief legal officer of the country, the Attorney General issued an opinion declaring that transaction illegal.
“When you issue a bond, it is an agreement; you advertise a prospectus which becomes the agreement and you are bound by those agreement to respect them, you cannot alone sit in your office shred those agreement illegally and arrogantly compel people to accept what you want.
“They are all aware that since yesterday the financial sector has become inundated by customers calling in and some running in there thinking something bade was happening to their money. Today, I want to appeal to all bondholders to exercise caution and spare our financial sector from any pressure”.
The Bolgatanga Central lawmaker pointed out that it has become quite clear that the Attorney General and Minister for Justice that this was not the action of government and rather the action of Ken Ofori Atta.
Again, it’s not possible for cabinet to approve a transaction that the AG says its illegal, so Ken Ofori Atta is on his own, he has already collapsed the banking sector, collapse our savings and loan and micro finance institutions and already collapsed the capital market where liquidity dry out way back in 2021.
“For several years we have been trying to build a capital market that is respected and lawful, what he has done is to send us back twenty years whiles we are trying to build a legal respected legal capital market”.
He said they will resist this and as at yesterday he has been supported by a team of financial analyst and investment bankers who are pondering over the sixty four bond categories that were issued, adding that very soon, they will present to the media the level of damage in people’s investment that has called for this announcement.
“I am ready with my team, with any group of investors and bondholders who agree to come together for a class action to sue government and the minister for finance to reverse this decision”, he said.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com