The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has reassured pensioners of the Scheme’s ability to continuously pay their pension benefits for many years, despite recent contrary reports.
Mr Kofi Bosompem Osafo-Maafo, the Director-General of SSNIT, in a speech read on his behalf, said despite its challenges, the Scheme remained strong and would be able to pay pension benefits and meet its financial obligations in the years ahead.
The reassurance comes on the backdrop of a report released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which among other things projected that SSNIT’s financial reserves could deplete and subsequently collapse the Scheme by 2036.
However, Mr Osafo-Maafo told the National Pensioners Association (NPA) to disregard such reports and that they were committed to transparency, open communication, and addressing pensioners’ concerns. He said this at a Pensioners Engagement 2024, organised by SSNIT on the theme: “Our Promise, Your Security”, in Takoradi
The engagement provided a platform for SSNIT to explain some of its working strategies to members of the NPA while clarifying issues and concerns of the Association for mutual benefit
He said: “In fact, as of August 2024 alone, SSNIT has paid well over 3.7 billion in pensions to over 250,000 retired workers in Ghana, and we are focused on making the scheme even stronger by expanding coverage to the vast numbers of self-employed workers in the country.
The SSNIT Director-General stated that they aimed to build a more inclusive system that benefited every worker to ensure a secure retirement for all.
He reiterated that the Scheme would be able to pay pensions and meet its financial obligations beyond 2036, saying members’ contributions remained safe.
“In somewhere April this year, it became topical in the media that SSNIT was going to collapse in the next 12 years, but we are here to reassure our stakeholders that there is no truth in that,” he said.
GNA
