Completing declaration forms will not affect past credits - SSNIT

The Management of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) says the completion of pension declaration forms has nothing to do with the payment of Past Credit.

It assured all contributors and pensioners that SSNIT would at all times pay their benefits accurately and promptly as had always been done.

The Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG), on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency warned its members not to complete the declaration forms for the processing of pensions by SSNIT.

CLOGSAG said the form was designed in “a manner that did not allow a pensioner any claim, thereafter, even if there are even genuine grounds for further payment.”

In response to the issues raised by CLOGSAG, SSNIT on Thursday March 18, 2021, said the intention was only to help members of the Scheme vet their SSNIT statements of account to ensure completeness and accuracy so they (SSNIT) could serve its clients better.

A statement by SSNIT said members only had to verify whether the statements of account were accurate or not, by signing the appropriate documents.

It explained that if any inaccuracy was noticed, members could draw the Trust’s attention for redress and indicate whether they wanted their benefits to be paid whilst the issues with the statements were resolved later.

"Members may also exercise the right to wait for the anomalies to be corrected before their pensions are computed and paid," it said.

The statement said a member, by attesting to the completeness and accuracy of the SSNIT statement of account to be used for the computation of the benefits, would not forfeit any rightfully earned benefits when additional financial information was retrieved for that person at a later date.

The statement asked members, pensioners, and Organised Labour to contact the offices of SSNIT for further clarification when in doubt.