Director-General of SSNIT, John Ofori-Tenkorang
Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) John Ofori-Tenkorang has admonished employers to pay the contributions of their employees as required by law.
He said employers must pay the contributions of employees so that when they retire, their pensions are paid.
He contended that SSNIT could not use the contributions of others to pay the pensions of those who had their contributions not paid by their employers.
According to him, SSNIT has relieved employers of significant liability for the welfare of their employees, so it was prudent for them to pay their employees’ contributions ”timeously”.
He said when employers don’t play their part in paying the contributions of their workers; it makes the work of SSNIT difficult.
The first option of SSNIT, he said, is not to take defaulting employers to court since the first option is to get employers to understand that it is their civic duty to pay contributions for their workers.
”When you pay the required contributions, nobody would come and threaten you with the summons. But when that doesn’t happen and we remind you, and you turn a deaf ear or a blind eye on it, then we have no choice but to serve you the summons and take you to court.”
He was speaking during a press conference at the SSNIT headquarters, where the Trust announced a 25 percent increase in pensions for pensioners.
All 234,000 legitimate pensioners on the SSNIT pension payroll as of the end of December 2022 will have their monthly pensions increased by a fixed rate of 19%, plus a redistributed flat amount of GH73.58, as a result of the review.
By the increment, the minimum paid pensioner will receive GH¢430.58 while the highest paid pensioner receives GH¢169,725.89.
About SSNIT
The Social Security and National Insurance Trust is a statutory Public Trust with the mandate to manage the Basic National Social Security Scheme, which is the first tier of the contributory three-tier pension scheme, and to provide for related matters under the National Pensions Act 2008 (Act 766).
SSNIT is charged with the responsibility of replacing part of lost income to its contributors and their dependants due to old age, invalidity, emigration or death. The pension a Member enjoys under the First Tier Scheme depends on the salaries on which contributions were paid and the number of months the Member contributed to the Scheme.
25%
