Gyampo Hints of Labour Shutdown Over Debt Exchange Programme

The Secretary of the University of Ghana branch University Teachers Association of Ghana (UG-UTAG), Professor Ransford Yaw Gyampo, has hinted of a massive strike action by Organised Labour over the recently announced Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.

He said since government has gone out of its way to announce the Programme without recourse to Organised Labour, they will also proceed on strike to reject any attempt to touch their pensions.

He expressed these sentiments on TV3‘s Midday Live on Wednesday, December 14.

“This one it is going to be a strike of [organised] labour,” he hinted.

He said it is becoming too much on the part of government to take unilateral decisions as if workers are “small kids”.

“It is very bad and unacceptable.”

The Programme was launched on Monday, December 5 by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.

Under the Programme, domestic bondholders will be asked to exchange their instruments for new ones.

Existing domestic bonds as of Thursday, December 1 will be exchanged for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032 and 2037.

The annual coupon on all of those bonds will be set at 0% in 2023, 5% in 2024 and 10% from 2025 until maturity with coupon payments done semiannually.