Gabby cannot tell me what to do, he is not important – Sophia Akuffo fires

Former Chief Justice of Ghana, Sophia Akuffo, has defended her participation in a picket by pensioner bondholders at the Ministry of Finance, in response to criticism from a leading member of the New Patriotic Party, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko. Akuffo, who joined the protest against the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, accused Otchere-Darko of being a less important figure who does not hold any significant position in the governing party. She went on to stress her belief that pensioner bondholders will not sign up to the DDEP, despite government claims that participation is voluntary. Akuffo argued that the programme could cause significant long-term damage to the country, and that the suspicion of the unknown is being reintroduced into the government securities market. The former Chief Justice has been an outspoken critic of the DDEP, which saw the government offer to exchange existing bonds for new ones with a longer maturity, and a higher interest rate, in an effort to reduce the country’s debt burden