Over 1,400 Gold Coast customers have died waiting for locked-up funds – says Convener

More than 1,400 members of the Aggrieved Customers of Defunct Gold Coast Fund Management have died since their investments were locked up eight years ago, with the group blaming the prolonged wait for access to their funds for some of the deaths.

Convener of the group, Charles Nyame, said most of the affected customers are elderly people who invested their lifetime savings and pension lump sums and depended on returns from those investments to meet their medical expenses.

“Over 1,460 of our members being in the retired age are dead and gone. Most of the cases that led to their death could have been resolved if they had access to their monies,” Mr Nyame said.

He made the revelation on Channel One News on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, after the group petitioned President John Dramani Mahama over more than GH¢3 billion in outstanding locked-up funds.

Mr Nyame said more than 80% of the group’s members are of retirement age and have faced severe financial difficulties since their investments became inaccessible.

“Since the money is locked up, many of them struggled to pay their medical bills. And that has led to a lot of mortality.”

He said the group believes the number of people affected is significantly higher than the number of validated claims because some claims represent groups of investors.

Mr Nyame said more than 140,000 claims had been validated, but estimated that more than 500,000 people could be directly affected.

“When you do the calculations, you have over 500,000 directly affected people,” he said.

The group has repeatedly called on the government to release the outstanding funds and recently petitioned President Mahama publicly after attempts to resolve the matter through engagements with government officials failed.

“We have no other option than to come to the public and petition President Mahama, since he made the promise in public. Maybe petitioning him in public will remind him and make him do the needful,” Mr Nyame said.

The customers are relying on a promise they say President Mahama made during the 2024 election campaign to pay outstanding locked-up funds within the first year of his administration without subjecting victims to a prolonged payment plan.

Mr Nyame said the group had given the government until the end of 2026 to address the issue, partly because of the expected presentation of the 2027 Budget.

He said the group wants the government to make provision for the outstanding payments in the 2027 Budget.

“We are just appealing to the President that we have waited long enough; eight years is long enough,” he said.

Mr Nyame urged the government to act quickly, saying customers should not be made to bear the consequences of what he described as regulatory and industry failures.

“The customer must not bear the brunt of this negligence,” he said.

-citinewsroom