We can’t postpone reforms implementation — Pensions authority

The National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has said it will not postpone the migration of lump sum payments from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to private schemes.

The Director of Planning, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the NPRA, Mr Ernest Amartey-Vondee, told the Daily Graphic on Monday that while the authority would go ahead to implement the last lap of the reforms next year, organised labour was free to address its concerns to the authority for appropriate redress.

He was responding to appeals by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) that the payment of lump sum by private pension schemes, which begins in January 2020, be deferred.

Mr Amartey-Vondee was speaking in an interview on the sidelines of a pre-retirement seminar organised by the Axis Pensions Group in Accra.

The event brought together the NPRA, SSNIT, workers and retirees to discuss pensions.

TUC’s position

The TUC had said the postponement of the migration of lump sum payment was needed to give the private pension schemes enough time to properly invest workers’ contributions to be able to pay amounts equal to or more than what SSNIT would have paid.

Stating the NPRA’S position on the matter, Mr Amartey-Vondee said the authority was ready to engage the TUC on the matter, although the migration would go on as planned.

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“We are not going to postpone it because that is against the law; until the law is changed, we cannot change anything. If they have any concerns, we are ready to talk with them,” he said.

“In any case, the labour unions have representation on the NPRA and the SSNIT boards, so they are free at any point to carry their concerns to the boards, which are policy-making bodies, and they will surely be addressed,” Mr Amartey-Vondee added.

Enforcing the law

He said one of the core functions of the NPRA was to ensure the enforcement of the law with regard to pensions and their administration in the country.

“The reason we exist is to enforce the law; the law says: ‘have tiered provisions for pensions’, and as the regulator, we are enforcing what the law says we should do,” he said.

He added that the NPRA was committed to protecting the pension benefits of contributors and ensuring that they were available for members, when due.

Importance of retirement

The Chief Executive Officer of the Axis Pensions Group, Mr Afriyie Oware, reiterated the importance of retirement to all workers.

He said retirement was an important milestone in the lives of workers, as it marked a shift from dependence on employers to dependence on own resources.

“A lot of people have misconceptions about pension and we see that often people approach retirement with fear, feelings of anxiety and desperation.

“We realise that the reason they have these feeling is that they really do not take time to plan adequately for their retirement,” he said.

Need for planning

The National Chairman of the National Pensioners Association, Mr S.A. Sesi, said old age could be agonising for people who did not plan for it.

He said it was, therefore, important for retirees to adequately plan for their pension by starting businesses that would feed them in their old age.