First Fund Customers Threaten Protest Over GH¢170m Locked Funds After Six-Year Delay-Ghana
Aggrieved investors of First Fund, a scheme formerly managed by the defunct First Banc Financial Services, have issued a two-week ultimatum to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to release their locked-up funds or face mass protests. The investors, numbering over 20,000, say they have been denied access to their savings, estimated at more than GH¢170 million, for six years following the revocation of the fund manager’s license.
The customers accuse the SEC of delaying payments despite appointing three different fund managers to oversee disbursements since 2019. According to them, the regulator first handed the fund to TTL, which failed to make any payments, before transferring the responsibility to OctaneDC, which also delivered no results. Currently, SEM Capital Advisors is managing the process but is still reconciling accounts before payments can commence.
Investors claim there are serious concerns about accountability, citing a missing GH¢36 million commercial paper investment highlighted in an OctaneDC report. “If you take a critical look at the report issued by OctaneDC, it clearly specifies where some of our funds were invested, and yet the board of First Fund cannot account for these funds,” said Johnny Kwabena Nketiah, co-convener of the aggrieved group. He added that the situation raises major transparency questions.
Frustrated by the prolonged delays, the customers say they will not hesitate to hit the streets if no action is taken.“Our customers need the money. Letters we have written to SEC and the Company Board have proven futile. The only language they understand is demonstration. If nothing changes in two weeks, we will protest,” Nketiah warned, stressing that their patience has run out.
The investors are also appealing for government intervention to resolve the impasse. They plan to petition Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson and have called on President John Dramani Mahama to step in. “There’s no hope in sight. We believe in the new SEC management and the Board chaired by Dr. Adu Anane-Antwi. We are calling on the government to bail us out and help us recover our money,” Nketiah added.
Source: Citi newsroom