Policy-makers should ensure financial security for the aged - Actuary

Accra. July 26, GNA-Mr. Ernest Amartey-Vondee, President of the Actuarial Society of Ghana (ASG) has added his voice to the call on policy-makers, not only to explore ways to ensure financial security for the old, but to also find best ways to pay for such security. This, he said, was because pension schemes had become the necessary instruments, seen as an old-age security system, for the welfare of the aged, designed primarily, to be mechanisms for providing retirement income to the aged population.

Mr. Amartey-Vondee, who made the call on Thursday when he delivered this year's Accra Academy Founders' Day Lecture dubbed: "Konuah, Halm-Addo, Awuletey, Alema Memorial Lectures", pointed out that pension schemes had become the subject of debate the world over, since systems providing financial security for the aged were under increasing strain, adding that traditional means of support for the old, such as extended families, were weakening.

His topic was: "Providing Retirement Income Security For The Ghanaian In The 21st Century-The Challenges, And The Way Forward." The Lectures which started in 1991 when Accra Academy celebrated its 60th Anniversary, were instituted by Mr V B Freeman, Fourth Headmaster of the School, to honour the founding fathers, to remind past students of the virtues on which the school was founded, namely; sacrifice, patriotism, honesty and selflessness.

Mr. Amartey-Vondee, who is also the Chief Executive of the Ghana Healthcare Company, subsidiary of SSNIT, and an old boy of the school, was of the view that if well-defined, properly managed and regulated, pension schemes would have a highly positive impact on both the well-being of the citizenry, and the development of the economy. "Pension schemes which are well-regulated and effectively supervised, can re-assure workers of their security, and encourage participation in the schemes." He underscored the need to adapt pensions systems to changes in the country's situations and population.

Touching on the goal of pension schemes, Mr. Amartey-Vondee, an Actuary and a Chartered Statistician, said it aimed at the establishment and protection of the rights of the pension scheme participants to their pension benefits, and upon their death, those of their nominated beneficiaries. "For every scheme, there must be predictable rules which set out the terms and conditions for the operation of the scheme, transparent information about entitlements, sound protection for the participants, and more importantly, transparent rules governing investment behaviour to ensure that, pension assets are used for the sole and exclusive benefit of the scheme participants." He, therefore, suggested that an appropriate legislative framework was necessary to recognizer these issues, if there should be successful institution and operation of pension schemes.

He pointed out that the legislation must provide that pension assets be absolutely segregated from other assets of the employer, in order to insulate such assets from any economic misfortune that might affect the employer. "The pension fund must be maintained as a separate entity so that its assets may not be lost in the event of bankruptcy of the employer", he explained. Mr Amartey-Vondee, said since a pension made a promise to provide beneficiaries with a certain level of benefit upon retirement, regulations had to ensure that the scheme's funding was adequate to meet current and future benefit obligations.

Mr. Amartey-Vondee lauded the Founding Fathers of Accra Academy in whose honour the lectures had been instituted, for their vision, dedication and sacrifice. He pointed out that, the story of Accra Academy was one of sacrifice, struggle, survival and success, because it took the personal sacrifice of the founders to see the school through turbulent years of struggle to survive.

Mr Amartey-Vondee (Bleoo 1978) said it was gratifying to note that today the school "stands as a success story of a vision nurtured by devotion, dedication, discipline and perseverance." Past students of Accra Academy founded in 1931, who had so far delivered the Founders' Day Lecture on topics selected by its Board of Directors on the tenets on which the school was established, and their relevance to contemporary matters, include the late Mr Justice F.K. Apaloo (Bleoo 1942), former Chief Justice; Mr Justice Vincent Cyril Richard Arthur Charles Crabbe (Bleoo 1943), Eminent Jurist and a Retired Supreme Court Judge; Dr E.Q. Blavo (Bleoo 1944), Immediate Past Board Chairman of the school and former Youth Policy Advisor to the Jamaica Government.

Others are the late Oyeeman Nana Wereko Ampem the Second (Bleoo 1950), Gyaasehene of Akuapem Traditional Area and Omanhene of Amanokrom, and First non-Head of State Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon; the late Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey (Bleoo 1951), Immediate Past Speaker of Parliament; Mr Justice George Lamptey (Bleoo 1951), Retired Supreme Court Judge. The rest are Professor E Q Archampong (Bleoo 1951), Former Dean of the Ghana Medical School; Mr Paul Boateng (Bleoo 1968), Former Member of Parliament of the British House of Commons and currently British High Commissioner to South Africa; and Professor Samuel Quainoo (Bleoo 1977), Professor of Political Science, East Starsbourg University, United States. The 1977 school batch, used the occasion to launch a Pension Programme for their Alma Mater. Before the Lecture was delivered, a minute's silence was observed in memory of Mr Ala Adjetey, who incidentally, was to chair the function.