Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor
Dr. Yaw Baah, the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has recognised the cooperation of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, towards addressing pension-related disputes.
Joined in the recognition are the Director-General of SSNIT, Dr. Ofori Tenkorang, the Chairman of the Governing Board of National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Paul Simon Koranteng and the CEO of National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Hayford Attah Krufi.
He said, “They have demonstrated commitment to dialogue as a means of resolving all pension-related disputes.”
Organised labour, he said, has continuously engaged SSNIT on the issue of inadequate pensions for pensioners, something analysts and actuaries attribute to low salaries.
These were contained in his May Day speech at the Independence Square last Wednesday in Accra.
The computation of benefits, he disclosed, is fraught with challenges.
This notwithstanding, he said organised labour is currently enjoying the cooperation of SSNIT to resolve them.
He said, “In 2017, organised labour constituted a technical committee to investigate the computation of pension benefits. The committee found that low level of pay is an important factor but another important factor, which is contributing significantly to low pensions and consequently to the high incidence of poverty and destitution among pensioners, has to do with the computation of pension benefits.”
However, good progress is being made in the past two years to reverse this feat, which is attributable to the cooperation from the SSNIT Board and NPRA.
“In the last two years, organised labour has been engaging the board and management of SSNIT and NPRA on the computation of social security benefits. Mr. President, I am very pleased to inform you that we are making good progress.
The TUC boss gave the assurance that organised labour would continue to engage SSNIT and NPRA, saying, “We are confident that we can resolve all disputes in the spirit of cooperation, mutual respect and social partnership.”
Dr. Baah asked President Akufo-Addo to correct a flawed social policy and unfold concrete plans and a roadmap for Universal Pension Coverage in Ghana in the 2020 Budget and Economic Policy Statement.”
He also pleaded with the president to address the payment of inadequate pension benefits, especially for pensioners on the SSNIT scheme.
“Currently, there are about 200,000 pensioners on the SSNIT scheme. It may surprise you to know that about a quarter of these pensioners (i.e., 50,000 pensioners) are receiving just about GH¢300 per month or GH¢10 per day. This is woefully inadequate, given the health challenges old people have to contend with on daily basis. This explains the high incidence of poverty and destitution among pensioners in Ghana,” he said.
SSNIT, under the chairmanship of Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, has made strides, especially in reversing factors, which under the previous NDC administration facilitated the financial haemorrhaging of the Trust’s coffers to benefit a few individuals for partisan interests.
By A.R. Gomda