Disgruntled customers of defunct DKM Diamond Microfinance in the Upper East Region, have vowed not to vote in the upcoming November general elections if President John Mahama does not facilitate the refund of their investments held by DKM Diamond Microfinance.
The customers say several directives by president Mahama to state security apparatus and the Bank of Ghana to ensure that affected customers retrieve their investments have proven futile.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Eo4HHMrXTlBRBGuLU1kNoc68Ym931rXr”]Hundreds of affected customers of DKM Diamond Microfinance took to the principal streets of Bolgatanga with placards with inscriptions, ‘No money No vote’, ‘DKM where is the cash’, ‘Killer Government who permitted DKM to operate’, among others, demanding government’s intervention to help them retrieve their investments.
The customers in a petition to President John Mahama through the outgoing Upper East Regional Minister James Zugah Tiigah, want government to fast track processes for the payment of their investments or else they will not vote come November 7,2016.
Spokesperson for the group, Mr. Charles Ayambire, noted that President Mahama’s directive to liquidate and confiscate assets of DKM Diamond Microfinance for sale in order to pay affected customers has not yielded any positive results.
He added that some customers have already had court orders to seize the assets of DKM.
According to Mr. Ayambire, “The group believes that DKM satisfied all conditions of BoG before the 90 days moratorium ban was lifted and wondered why DKM has since not paid their customers and the interventions taken by the BoG to ensure that affected customers are paid their investments.”
“The inability of customers to get their investment have led to loss of jobs, truncated education, broken marriages collapsed businesses and in some cases deaths.
The group also appealed to the BNI and BoG to be proactive in securing their funds and also investigate workers of DKM over vehicles and houses some of them allegedly acquired in just few months.
Mr. Ayambire reiterated that, if nothing is done to resolve the matter by President Mahama and the NDC government, affected customers will not vote in the general election on November 7,2016.
The DKM brouhaha goes beyond the Upper East Region as it has branches in other parts of the country. In the Brong Ahafo Region for instance, affected customers have employed several means to retrieve their investments but to no avail.
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Fred Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana