“There is a price to pay for aloofness” – Mahama to Ghanaian bondholders

John Dramani Mahama, a former president of Ghana, has urged the populace to take an active interest in taking role in the political process.

He claims that the present events in the nation are evidence that Ghanaians need to be cautious about the types of persons that assume the country’s political leadership.

The former president stated that if Ghanaians do not become involved in politics, fools would continue to control the country on Friday, January 27, 2022, during a talk on the platform of the Chatham House Africa Programme.

“There is a price to pay for aloofness. There is a saying that those who refuse to participate in governance, the price they pay is to be ruled by fools.

“Today, there are bondholders who said ‘I don’t do politics, I am not NDC, I am not NPP’, you see when the disaster come, today all of them have suddenly jumped up.

“If you had participated, we probably wouldn’t be where we are. So, everybody must take an interest in how the nation is run, and so nobody should be apolitical, because when the disaster comes, when the bus crashes, you are in that bus and the chances of you losing your life is higher probably more than the one driving,” he said.

The Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, a call for the voluntary exchange of the government’s domestic notes and bonds for a package of new bonds, was introduced by the government of Ghana on December 5, 2022.

In order to obtain the $3 billion bailout the government is requesting from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the action is intended to assist the government in restructuring GH137 billion of its domestic debt. This would demonstrate to the IMF that the government’s obligations are sustainable.

However, the resistance from those who would be impacted, such as certain bondholders and some labor unions, has forced the government to extend the program’s deadline.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com