Contributors of Social Security & National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) expressed disappointment when officials of the Trust failed to attend a Graphic Business & Stanbic Bank breakfast meeting on Tuesday to answer questions on their pensions contributions owing to the recent scandal.
The amount of money reported to have been embezzled in connection with SSNIT’s biometric project, ‘Operation Business Suite’, currently stands at $81 million and could go up.
According to a retired civil servant, who desperately wanted answers to some numerous questions after contributing to the scheme for 35 years, his checks at the Trust revealed that his total contributions had not even reached GH¢1,000.00.
Another concerned representative of a company bitterly spoke about certain illegal deductions and computations imposed on workers’ contributions by SSNIT, saying such deductions were unjustifiable and should therefore be addressed.
A female traditional leader also expressed concerns about some wasteful investments by SSNIT, which included the construction of properties in a water-logged area close to Sakumono, near Tema.
Another concerned contributor also complained about the construction of the AU villages at Cantonments and Ridge in Accra which he said were not yielding any profitable returns.
“Pensions contributions should not be seen as political. These are the hard-earned incomes of contributors and should be treated much more efficiently to produce the required dividends. This tells us that the future of contributors is being treated with contempt.”
However, Theo Yartey, editor of Graphic Business, explained to the gathering that it extended a formal invitation to the Trust and engaged the Director-General in a telephone conversation, but was told that the Trust could not honour the invitation because it was in “bad times.”
This was after Lloyd Evans, a former editor of Graphic Business, inquired about the whereabouts of representatives of SSNIT at the event.
By Samuel Boadi