Cape Coast Nov. 30, GNA - Mr William Siaw, Head of the Informal Sector of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), pension scheme, on Saturday called on people working in the informal sector to contribute to the scheme to guarantee their social security during their old age.
He said 7.2 million people in the informal sector did not contribute to the scheme while only 800 people of the 9 nine million workers in the formal sector contributed to SSNIT.
Mr Siaw who was speaking at a day's sensitisation workshop on pension for commercial drivers in Cape Coast, said the situation was not good enough for the country's socio-economic development.
The workshop, organised by the University of Cape Coast (UCC) branch of 'students in Free Enterprise', a local non-governmental organisation based at the tertiary institution, was aimed at educating the participants on the significance of the scheme to the welfare of retired worker.
Mr Siaw said a study conducted for the past 10 years indicated that quiet a chunk of people did not qualify for the package because they stop contributing to it when they travelled outside the country.
He said SSNIT had designed a pilot 'informal sector social security' programme which would be operational in January next year for the informal sector to ensure that all pensioners were completely covered by the scheme so that they could receive regular income until they die.
Mr Siaw said the initiative, which would be implemented in 100 centres in six regions in the country, would enable contributors to either make daily, weekly, monthly or annual payment towards their retirement.
Mr Siaw said under the programme, payment would not be tied to contributor's income and that it would be made accessible to people between the ages of 15 and 59 years in the informal sector.
He said the proposed scheme, among other considerations, made provisions for old age, invalidity pension and survivors of contributors adding that contributors could withdraw part of their contributions when necessary and they would also enjoy credit facilities.
He, therefore, urged qualified persons to avail themselves of the opportunity being offered by SSNIT to prepare for their future.
Nana Barima Ansu Adjei, Western and Central Area manager of SSNIT, stated that most Ghanaians become destitute in their old age because they failed to prepare adequately for their future.
He commended the students for organising the workshop and urged the drivers to take advantage of the new scheme to contribute to their future. The Reverend Professor Emmanuel Obeng, Vice-Chancellor of the University, also praised the organisers of the programme saying students were now more proactive and had become interested in development issues.
