Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, the Director-General of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), has appealed to employers to back up efforts at awareness creation on the benefits of the Trust to boost the number of contributors.

He said SSNIT was a lifelong insurance scheme available to every worker between the ages of 15 and 45, who was 'engaged in honest and good employment' in the public and private sectors.

The Director General of SSNIT made the call during the Fourth Employers' Breakfast Meeting in Koforidua at the weekend, on the theme: 'Provide Pension for All: The Role of Employers.'

The Employers' Breakfast Meeting started in 2019 and is held annually to educate employers and address their concerns about the scheme.

Representatives from the Ghana Health Service, Ghana Water Company, private sector organisations, the Trade Union Congress, executives and managers of the Trust, and members of the media were present.

SSNIT was educating employers and the public on its many benefits to encourage voluntary registration rather than legal coercion, Dr Ofori-Tenkorang said, and that 'any business on forced patronage would die eventually.'

The scheme granted retirees the same working life as active service pensioners, with annual pay increments depending on labour union negotiations with the Government, he said.

'We adjust to the inflation rate of the economy and increase payments yearly…Last year, pension funds were increased by 25 per cent on average and 43 per cent maximum.'

Since SSNIT was financed by employer contributions, employers that owed back payments were punished and forced to pay interest as well.

Dr Ofori-Tenkorang said GHC132 million in arrears were recovered from employers via legal action in June 2023 and that GH 212 million was recovered using the same procedure and during the same time frame the previous year.

He mentioned some of the achievements as the launch of the Self-Employed Enrolment Drive and the integration of the SSNIT number with the Ghana card to facilitate the identification of contributors.

Source: Ghana News Agency