We’ll vote for Akufo-Addo if he pays our locked-up funds – Affected S&L customers

The Secretary to the Coalition of Affected Savings And Loans Customers (CASLOC), Mr Ezekiel Annor Akagbo, has said the group’s 3.3 million members who were customers of the 347 microfinance companies and the 23 savings & loans firms whose licences were revoked by the Bank of Ghana leading to the lock-up of their deposits and investments amounting to about GHS7 billion, have resolved to vote for President Nana Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2020 general elections if he fulfils his promise to pay their deposits and investments in full.

This is a U-turn to the group’s mid-December 2019 threat to vote out the President for failing to address their plight.

At the time, Mr Akagbo told Class91.3FM’s Maxwell Atta that: “Over half of us can be said to have had a very strong affinity with the ruling government. This affinity can be seen to be dwindling as a result of the untold hardships being experienced by us as a result of the financial sector clean-up exercise”, he bemoaned.

The group’s U-turn comes on the back of a reiteration of President Akufo-Addo’s promise by Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Tuesday, 11 February 2020 at a town hall meeting in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.

According to Dr Bawumia, the “government has already spent over GHS13 billion paying depositors of banks and other financial institutions, and the President has given the assurance and I will like to repeat that no depositor of a bank, savings and loans or microfinance company would lose even a pesewa of their deposits”.

The Vice-President added: “All depositors of these institutions will receive a 100% refund of their deposits since this was no fault of their own. Government has asked the receiver (working with the Bank of Ghana) to expedite the validation and payment of depositors so that all depositors will receive their monies after validation.”

“I will also like to add that this refund will also extend to customers of DKM who have not as yet received the full refund of their deposits”, he promised.



In a direct response to a question about whether CASLOC will amend its position if the government fulfils its promise to them, Mr Akagbo told Class91.3FM’s 505 news programme on Tuesday evening that: “Of course, we’ll do that [Vote for the government]”.

“We’ll do exactly that because I even know of some of our members who are not members of the ruling party in government but they have expressed their interest of voting for this party should their monies be paid to them.

“And, I know ardent members of this party who have also threatened that if their monies are not paid to them, they would vote against them. So, if the President comes to do our wish for us, there’s no doubt we are going to vote for them, including those who were in opposition to the party”, Mr Akagbo added.

The Secretary to the Coalition of Affected Savings And Loans Customers (CASLOC), Mr Ezekiel Annor Akagbo, has said the group’s 3.3 million members who were customers of the 347 microfinance companies and the 23 savings & loans firms whose licences were revoked by the Bank of Ghana leading to the lock-up of their deposits and investments amounting to about GHS7 billion, have resolved to vote for President Nana Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2020 general elections if he fulfils his promise to pay their deposits and investments in full.

This is a U-turn to the group’s mid-December 2019 threat to vote out the President for failing to address their plight.

At the time, Mr Akagbo told Class91.3FM’s Maxwell Atta that: “Over half of us can be said to have had a very strong affinity with the ruling government. This affinity can be seen to be dwindling as a result of the untold hardships being experienced by us as a result of the financial sector clean-up exercise”, he bemoaned.

The group’s U-turn comes on the back of a reiteration of President Akufo-Addo’s promise by Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Tuesday, 11 February 2020 at a town hall meeting in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.

According to Dr Bawumia, the “government has already spent over GHS13 billion paying depositors of banks and other financial institutions, and the President has given the assurance and I will like to repeat that no depositor of a bank, savings and loans or microfinance company would lose even a pesewa of their deposits”.

The Vice-President added: “All depositors of these institutions will receive a 100% refund of their deposits since this was no fault of their own. Government has asked the receiver (working with the Bank of Ghana) to expedite the validation and payment of depositors so that all depositors will receive their monies after validation.”

“I will also like to add that this refund will also extend to customers of DKM who have not as yet received the full refund of their deposits”, he promised.

In a direct response to a question about whether CASLOC will amend its position if the government fulfils its promise to them, Mr Akagbo told Class91.3FM’s 505 news programme on Tuesday evening that: “Of course, we’ll do that [Vote for the government]”.

“We’ll do exactly that because I even know of some of our members who are not members of the ruling party in government but they have expressed their interest of voting for this party should their monies be paid to them.

“And, I know ardent members of this party who have also threatened that if their monies are not paid to them, they would vote against them. So, if the President comes to do our wish for us, there’s no doubt we are going to vote for them, including those who were in opposition to the party”, Mr Akagbo added.