SSNIT must intensify interactive channels

The desire of every worker has always been to work hard in order to retire and live comfortably on the fruits of his or her labour.

That desire is also not lost on the Ghanaian worker. It is a critical reason that gave birth to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) in 1972 under the NRCD 127 to administer the National Social Security Scheme until 1991 when it was converted to a Social Insurance Pension Scheme then governed by the PNDC Law 247.

Since its establishment to date, the SSNIT has remained the source of livelihood to over 190,000 pensioners.

Currently, a little over one million Ghanaians are registered SSNIT contributors, representing about 10 per cent of the population of the country.

This, we see as troubling because the future of the majority is uncertain, particularly so when they are no longer strong enough to fend for themselves.

Currently, the focus of SSNIT seems to be more on the formal sector workers and even that, a number of employers default in paying the contribution of their employees.

Last week, the Director-General of SSNIT, Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, hosted some employers to a breakfast meeting in Accra during which he announced that the trust had to drag an unacceptable figure of 4,310 employers to court over various offences, including failure to register their establishments or workers, failure to submit contribution reports of employers' records and failure to pay contributions and associated penalties as at the end of the first half of the year.

The Daily Graphic endorses the move by SSNIT to compel employers to honour their social responsibility with their employees as such acts jeopardise the future of such employees.

One challenge that had confronted SSNIT over the years that seems not to attract especially the informal sector has to do with transparency and that is why we commend the current administration of the trust, headed by Dr Ofori-Tenkorang, for taking a number of steps to educate Ghanaians and engender confidence in the scheme such that it is appealing to the informal sector and the self-employed.

The Daily Graphic applauds Dr Ofori-Tenkorang for introducing an interactive session such as the Breakfast meeting of the Director-General of SSNIT with employers to create a platform for employers to air their concerns.

The trust has also started sending email messages to members and also members are able to check their records with SSNIT to be sure that everything is deemed as correct before they retire.

SSNIT is also leveraging technology to provide multi-channel service delivery points and also a Contact Centre that engages members and clients daily through emails and calls.

While congratulating the current management on the innovative ways it has adopted, we wish to urge the management of SSNIT to intensify such interactive channels to get the buy-in of Ghanaians to increase its membership base.

Many people have a bizarre perception of SSNIT and it is the responsibility of the trust to dispel such perception and attract others to join.

Until last week's breakfast meeting, many people did not see their way clear regarding their benefits and contributions.

For instance, it was at the meeting many people got to know more about the “past credit”, which represents contributions made before the coming into force of Act 2008 (Act 766).

Until then, many thought that contribution had gone down the drain and thought the new act that stopped the 25 per cent lump sum would make them worse off since they will have to rely on only the Tier Two contribution.

SSNIT contributors need more education on their contribution, what they stand to gain and why those in the informal sector should join.

The Daily Graphic believes that apart from the public education and sensitisation, SSNIT must show more commitment to transparency to win public confidence in its activities.

We use the opportunity to congratulate SSNIT on emerging as the Company of the Year (Public Sector) category at the 2019 Ghana Business Awards ceremony.