The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability [ASEPA] has accused the government of discriminating against customers who have their funds locked up after banks and other financial institutions were collapsed.
In a brief statement, the executive director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson said: “Why is the Government discriminating against customers in the payment of the locked up funds on the basis of the ethnicity of their names?”
Below is the full statement:
EXPOSING GOV’Ts LIE ABOUT PAYMENT OF CUSTOMERS OF COLLAPSED BANKS
Folks last week, the Deputy Minister for Finance told us Government has settled 96% of its indebtedness to customers of the Collapsed Banks, Micro Finance and Saving and Loans Customers.
The days after have been followed by a rampage on Twitter by Gabby Otchere Darko re-emphasizing this blatant lie told by the Minister.
Today we are going to prove to you why we believe Government is NOT been particularly honest with the public.
The Total Number of Customers of collapsed Savings and Loans were 2.1Million Customers, Microfinance Customers we’re about 1.1million according to the records. So the total number of Customers of Savings and Loans and Microfinance Companies sum up to about 3.2Million.
Now the reciever in one of his Press briefings told us that he has received claims from ONLY 360,000 customers from both MFI and Savings and Loans. The receiver additionally told us 63,000 of those claims were rejected because they lacked the merit for the claim and that the receiver has through that process saved us some money.
Now that means only 297,000 claims were validated according to the receiver. Now let’s do some mathematics here, 297,000 as a percentage of 3.2Million will give you about 9%.
Now the banking sector, posted about 1Million customers, who were then issued a 5 year non-tradeable zero coupon bond. Which means they get their money is 5 years without any interest.
So technically this is a deferred payment by Government, which means Customers of the collapsed banks would receive their money only in 2025 and that cannot count as payment.
Then Government issued a directive that all the customers who cannot wait till 2025 for their money should take their Non tradeable Zero Coupon bond to CBG and discount it by 50% and take their money.
And this is the most cruel thing ever heard in the history of liquidation in Ghana, if you have the money why don’t you pay the customers their hard earned money but rather asking them to discount it by 50% is the most shrewd and cruel way of stealing from the poor customers who have already lost so much due to the time value of money.
But there is also one amazing thing I want all of us to think about…
Prior to the Collapse of MFI and Savings and Loans, Government told us it needed about GHC6billion to settle the 3.2Million customers who would be affected. During the Mid year budget review in 2019 the finance minister reiterated this call and even requested for additional funds to settle customers.
If GHC6billion was budgeted to settle 3.2 million customers based on the books of the MFI and Saving and Loans Companies, how come the reciever after validating ONLY 297,000 claims out the 3.2Million Customers is telling us he has spent GHC5.4billion to pay the customers?
Even with the 297,000 claims, they have been paid with a mixture of cash and bonds,so how come we have spent GHc5.4billion???
We believe the monies allocated for the payment of these innocent customers is finding their ways into people’s pocket.
Some people are benefiting from the misery of the customers and they must be made to account for it.
Finally why does Ewes and Northeners account for almost 90% of the claims rejected by the receiver? Why is the Government discriminating against customers in the payment of the locked up funds on the basis of the ethnicity of their names? This is certainly unacceptable!!!
Mensah Thompson
Executive Director, ASEPA
