Gold Coast Fund Management customers have stipulated that the government must settle their locked-up investments along with accrued interests by June 30, 2024.
The group’s convener, Charles Nyame, highlighted in an interview with Citi News that over 900 customers have passed away due to their inability to access funds for medical care.
Mr Nyame criticized head of the Economic Management Team, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, for disregarding their grievances despite repeated efforts by customers to reclaim their investments from the government.
“Dr. Bawumia, they call you an economic hero, but what kind of hero ignores the cry of his people? We trusted the system and invested our hard-earned money for a secure future but here we are only to be cast aside like dead news. They dangle the public toilet in front of us like some kind of charity,” Charles Nyame lamented.
He further said, “With all due respect Your Excellency, we are not fools. We see through the empty promises. In this year’s election, our votes would not be a choice, it will be a scream born from the death of despair fuelled by years of neglect. We will not be silenced by apathy any more. June 30th is the deadline, give us back our money, every single cedi with interest. We have over 900 of our people, those are the ones that we have the records of their obituaries, they are dead and gone.”
Gold Coast Fund Management operated as a registered fund management entity under the regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Ghana.
Following the government’s financial sector clean-up in 2018, which led to the closure of Gold Coast Fund Management, some customers, previously associated with Blackshield Capital Limited (formerly Gold Coast Management), found their investments locked up.
These affected customers filed a petition, detailing their grievances, with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) following the completion of the clean-up exercise.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allocated GH¢8 billion for compensating customers of all 47 defunct fund management companies, a budget approved by Parliament.
The Finance Minister, in public statements, confirmed the completion of the exercise, reporting an expenditure of approximately GH¢25 billion, which encompassed the GH¢8.6 billion earmarked for compensating investors across the 47 defunct companies, including Gold Coast Fund Management.
However, despite these allocations and assurances, investors who were members of the petitioners’ association and had investments exceeding GH¢50,000.00 have yet to receive their funds since 2018.