Why Bryan Acheampong’s promise to pay all domestic bondholders is impossible

During the filing of his nomination papers on Wednesday, New Patriotic Party flagbearer aspirant Bryan Acheampong, during his address, promised to pay all domestic bondholders under the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

While Bryan Acheampong’s promise looks so sweet on paper, the fact is that what he is seeking to do is not possible to achieve, in line with the DDEP agreement.

First, the bondholders are on two fronts: domestic bondholders and foreign bondholders.

And under the DDEP agreement with bondholders, there is a critical clause known as the “equal treatment clause”. The equal treatment clause means that Ghana MUST give all bondholders equal treatment.

So contrary to Bryan Acheampong’s promise, he can’t decide to just pay domestic bondholders without paying the foreign bondholders as well. That is not possible.

Any attempt to do so will mean Ghana will lose all the debt relief it has obtained through the negotiations.

As a senior member of the erstwhile government, indeed a Cabinet Minister, I expected Dr. Bryan Acheampong to have known better and know much more about this.

And if he didn’t know, he should have consulted members of his party or his campaign team with deep knowledge in these matters to educate him before coming out with such a promise, which is not possible to fulfil under the DDEP agreement.

Revise your notes and come again, Bryan.

MyJoyOnline