Debt Exchange: Affected individual bondholders under 'death sentence' – Kwesi Pratt

Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwasi Pratt Jnr, has likened the plight of affected individual bondholders in the debt exchange programme to a “death sentence.”

This comment by Kwasi Pratt is in line with that of the New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, who has also called on Ken Ofori-Atta to urgently review his decision on the inclusion of individual bondholders in the domestic debt exchange programme.

Frank Annoh-Dompreh, in a tweet, disagreed with the inclusion of individual bondholders in the debt exchange programme and described the decision by Ken Ofori-Atta as unfair and untenable.

The Ghana Individual Bondholder’s Forum on Friday petitioned the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta to exclude its members from the government’s domestic debt exchange programme.

The forum is kicking against the government’s decision to give individual bondholders a “haircut” under the debt restructuring initiative.

In an interview with host of Atinka FM’s AM Drive, Kwasi Pratt Jnr, said depriving individual bondholders of their monies is not different from a death sentence.

He added that the inability of the individual bondholders to have access to basic amenities as a result of the haircut will eventually kill them.

“I listened to one of the individual bondholders and it was pathetic. The man says he has worked in Switzerland for over 40 years. This man came back to Ghana and invested all the money he got into bonds. I believe he was convinced that government bonds do not come with risks. Such a person has been sentenced to death. What does starvation leads to? If someone cannot pay his or her hospital what does it lead to?” Kwasi Pratt added.