Ghana’s miners demand release of $34.5m in trapped savings

Ghana’s union of mineworkers delivered a petition to the central bank on Thursday to demand more than 380m cedis (R547.2m) they say they are owed, and that has been frozen since a clean-up of the financial sector.

Under reforms begun in August 2017 and completed in 2019 to address widespread insolvency and weak governance, the central bank revoked the licences of more than 400 financial institutions.

The Ghana Mine Workers’ Union, an affiliate of the largest trade union in the country, said money in provident funds, welfare savings and severance packages belonging to more than 19,000 workers was still frozen as a result.

General secretary Abdul-Moomin Gbana said affected members include retirees, redundant workers, widows and dependants struggling to cover health care, education and housing costs.

The union said it has held back members from demonstrating since 2021, relying on repeated assurances from the central bank.

The IMF flagged the unresolved legacy issues in its 2023 and 2024 country reports.

The union threatened renewed industrial action and asked for a meeting with the governor of the Bank of Ghana and the finance minister.