DKM customers go wild

Aggrieved customers of DKM Diamond Microfinance Ltd., God Is Love Fun Club and other microfinance companies in the Brong Ahafo region, whose monies were locked up, have threatened to embark on a nationwide demonstration to express their anger at the government.

The customers have also threatened to prevent the National Democratic Congress (NDC) from launching its manifesto.

The customers said they doubt a news bulletin by an Accra-based private radio station, Citi Fm that customers of the above-mentioned companies would be paid their monies by the end of this month.

Spokesperson for the group, Maxwell Mahama, at a press conference on Monday said: “The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has categorically stated that DKM will pay us back our deposits when they inject a liquidity capital of GH¢50 million. “We were again told by the Bank of Ghana we could receive our deposits from DKM starting from 22 September 2015.”

But the Bank of Ghana’s promise to release our monies to us in September is just propaganda talk by the Mahama-led administration and we therefore can no longer trust the government, he indicated.

According to them, they would take the announcement with a pinch of salt because it did not come from an official government spokesperson, liquidator, Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Registrar General’s Department.

At a press conference on Monday, the customers, led by their spokesperson, Maxwell Mahama, said they were tired with promises from the President, his ministers and District Chief Executives (DCEs), saying it is another gimmick by the government to get chance to come to the Brong Ahafo Region to campaign and afterwards leave us in limbo.

Maxwell Mahama said if the news bulletin is to believed, it must officially come from the BoG or the so-called official liquidator appointed by government or the Registrar General’s Department.

“We will wait impatiently to the end of September as promised, we would vote against the government if it fails to release our monies. Customers do not know which modality the liquidator is using to liquidate DKM properties since a High Court in Wa, the Upper West Region has ruled that the appointment of the liquidator and her work is wrong in law.”

He asked President Mahama to order BoG to pay them back their monies or face simultaneous violent demonstrations in four regions in two weeks’ time.

They said that they would petition parliament, council of state, political parties and relevant civil society organizations to put pressure on government and BoG to quickly pay them their monies.

He challenged the government to name the two banks contracted to pay the customers.

“The losses incurred by the depositors have financially weakened the economy of Brong Ahafo. Some customers have lost their lives while some too have run away from their debtors. Some students have dropped out of school because their parents cannot pay their school fees.”

He said the promise by the NDC government is to divert attention in order to pave way for the party’s manifesto launch in the region.

“Looking at the hostility in the region towards the NDC party due to the DKM issues, President Mahama wants to do what he does best again by telling another lie that customers will be settled before September ending. Anytime the president wants to visit the region, he comes up with a propaganda story that the aggrieved customers will be settled so he can find his way through.

“We are planning to go on a naked demonstration in Brong Ahafo region and all the three Northern regions to stop them from organizing their manifesto launch until our monies are paid to us.”