The Minority in Parliament is demanding that the Finance Minister, Seth Tekper be hauled before the House to answer questions relating to government’s handling of the second tier pensions funds.
The Minority is questioning why government has refused to pay over GHC 270 million pension funds into the allocated account at the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
In an interview with Citi News, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Obuasi West, Kwaku Kwarteng who is leading the crusade by the Minority said the Finance Minister must be dragged before the House for answers.
[contextly_sidebar id=”tcNuOvjEEHIOBBE6ocG2AtHTX2kQpONT”]According to him, government as an employer for public sector workers is breaching the law by failing to transfer the pension funds into the Bank of Ghana account for onward investments by the National Pensions and Regulatory Authority (NPRA).
“That is clearly illegal because there are comprehensive provisions in the Act for punishing employers who do that but since it is government; we are not quite sure whether the NPRA can enforce these sanctions against government,” he remarked.
Mr. Kwarteng added that it is imperative for the Minister for Finance to explain to MPs the investments government has done with workers’ pensions.
“If those funds have been invested and yielded returns, ultimately, pensioners would have more comfortable pensions,” he argued.
The management and payment of the tier two pension funds of public sector workers has become a bone of contention between the government and Organized Labour.
The disagreement forced public sector workers to embark on an indefinite strike but a court injunction secured by the government forced the workers back to work.
On Monday, negotiations between the two bodies to settle all outstanding issues ended in a deadlock.
The workers are accusing the government of failing to present a plan for the resolution of the conflict.
They are therefore suing the government for the court to determine the matter.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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