He issued the warning in response to a request from the Business Committee of Parliament to call Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta before the committee to inform them of the ongoing picketing by pensioner bondholders at the Finance Ministry in support of an exemption from the domestic debt exchange program. Bagbin cautioned the MPs not to conduct themselves as though they were in a chop house or market.
He said: “Use Parliamentary language, not the language in a chop bar or marketplace but in Parliament.”
In her speech to the legislature, Ofori-Atta stated that all pensioners who did not exchange their old bonds for new ones as required under the program were exempt.
He emphasized that the retirees need not worry and said that all of their principal and coupons will be honored when maturity was due.
Considering that the activity was voluntary, he claimed that picketing over the contentious domestic debt exchange program was not essential.
He insisted that the exercise was entirely optional and that the government would uphold its responsibilities to bondholders, including pensioners who freely chose not to take part in the program.
On February 15, 2023, Ofori-Atta said that the picketing is no longer necessary in a speech to pensioners.
However, Ken Ofori-Atta has urged the holders of pension bonds to end their ongoing picketing at the ministry.
