Over 19,000 Ghanaian mineworkers, both past and present, say they want their locked-up funds back; and they say they’ve waited long enough.
In a demonstration on Thursday, the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) of the TUC(Ghana) stormed the premises of the Bank of Ghana clad in red attire and bandages to bare their teeth at the apex bank of the country.
At the center of their concerns is GHC380 million belonging to miners, some of whom are now retirees, widows, redundant workers, and their families, that has been sitting locked up in distressed financial institutions since the central bank’s financial sector clean-up exercise, with no clear end in sight.
The GHC380 Million: What Funds are They?
According to the Ghana Mine Workers Union, this GHC 380 million isn’t stray cash. It is made up of Provident Fund contributions, welfare savings, leave allowances, personal investments, and severance packages. These are funds the mineworkers have spent decades building up, expecting it to be there when they retire, get laid off, or fall sick.
Instead, it’s trapped inside two Specialised Deposit-taking Institutions (SDIs), which are the Seed Funds Savings & Loans Limited (TSF) and Jislah Financial Services Limited (Jislah).
The union’s Fund Manager, IGS Financial Services Limited, has reportedly been unable to draw down the funds from these institutions to pay members, leaving thousands of Ghanaians stuck in financial limbo through no fault of their own.
The Five-Year Wait
According to the petition presented to the Bank of Ghana, GMWU first raised the alarm back in April and June 2021, meeting with the Bank of Ghana’s Head of Banking Supervision, who assured them a solution was coming. However, after five years, no solution materialized.
Since then, the union says it has counted one promise after another. For instance, in July 2022, the Governor spoke of IMF talks to resolve institutions holding between GHS7 billion and GHS8 billion in distressed deposits. In July 2023, resolution was pegged to the completion of the Debt Exchange Programme.
By January 2025, the Governor cited budgetary constraints and, again, ongoing IMF discussions. And in March 2025, at the 123rd MPC press briefing, came another commitment to “clean up” the SDI sector in partnership with the Finance Ministry.
Even the IMF has weighed in on the matter, indicating in its December 2024 country report that the government must commit to a “comprehensive strategy,” including financial support to resolve the legacy issues. Yet, for the miners, nothing has changed on the ground.
Patience Running Out
According to the General Secretary of the workers’ union. Abdul Moomin Gbana, who led the protest, the country cannot gloss over the human cost of the situation. Speaking at the premises of the Bank of Ghana, he described retirees and redundant workers struggling to pay for healthcare, education, and housing; some, the union says, are watching their health decline while their severance packages sit frozen in an institution nobody will unlock.
That frustration has already spilled onto the streets. The petition lists a string of protests and strikes dating back to 2020 and 2021; from Ghana Manganese Company workers to Golden Star’s Bogoso/Prestea and Wassa mines, all driven by the same grievance.
The union says it has held the line since then, discouraging further unrest. But it warns that goodwill is running thin, and without urgent action, the mining sector could see renewed demonstrations and strikes that put production, government revenue, and investor confidence on the line.
What the Union Demands
GMWU says it demands full and immediate repayment of all locked-up deposits with TSF, Jislah, and any other distressed SDIs holding members’ funds “just as was previously done” for other affected depositors.
In addition, the workers want an urgent face-to-face meeting with the Governor and the Minister of Finance to thrash out a resolution.
According to Abdul Moomin Gbana, the hundreds of mine workers who protested on Tuesday are just the national executive. Failure of the BoG to address their grievances will result in another mammoth demonstration, which will include all the about 15,000 workers, their wives, husbands, children and other family members.
BoG’s Response
The petition was received on behalf of the Governor by the Bank of Ghana’s Director of Legal, who assured the delegation that the matter would be given the urgent attention it deserves.
For now, the union says it will take the assurance in good faith as they wait for the needed action. Failure of this promise will result in a number of industrial actions which will greatly affect the country’s mining sector, which is the largest contributor to the country’s revenue.
