Ghana’s union of mineworkers delivered a petition to the central bank on Thursday to demand more than 380 million cedis ($34.55 million) they say they are owed and that have 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 over 400 financial institutions.
The Ghana Mine Workers’ Union, an affiliate of the largest trade union in the country, said money in the form of provident funds, welfare savings and severance packages belonging to over 19,000 workers was still frozen as a result. General Secretary Abdul-Moomin Gbana said affected members include retirees, redundant workers, widows and dependents struggling to cover healthcare, 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 International Monetary Fund flagged the unresolved legacy issues in both 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.
The Nigerian stake is clear. Ghana’s financial sector clean-up was a necessary reform, but the human cost has been significant. The frozen savings of 19,000 mineworkers is a reminder that reforms have consequences. Nigeria has also undergone financial sector reforms, and the Ghanaian experience offers lessons on the importance of ensuring that workers are not left behind.
From a Nigerian vantage point, the mineworkers’ plight is a warning. When financial institutions collapse, workers’ savings are often the first to be lost. The Nigerian government must ensure that its own financial sector reforms include safeguards for workers’ funds.
This echoes the 2018 banking sector clean-up in Nigeria, which also saw workers’ funds trapped in failed institutions. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: workers left to bear the cost of financial sector failures.
The winners: none, unless the central bank releases the funds. The losers: the 19,000 mineworkers, who have been waiting for years for their savings; and the Ghanaian government, which faces renewed pressure over the unresolved issue.
Bottom Line: Ghana’s mineworkers are demanding the release of $34.5 million in frozen savings. The reforms were necessary. The human cost is real. The question is whether the government will act before the workers take to the streets.