The Association’s General Secretary, Edward Ameyibor, made the proposal at its Annual National Conference held in Tamale.

The conference was in commemoration of the Association’s Silver Jubilee.

Edward Ameyibor maintained that the National Health Endowment Fund was long overdue.

“The fund is necessary because there are certain illnesses workers contract when they are still in office.”

“There are certain diseases no matter who you are unless you are supported by the state you will not be able to support yourself.”

Mr. Ameyibor further lamented that, “There are heart problems, kidney, liver and on top of these problems there is cancer as well.”

“In Europe, issues of this nature are being paid by the citizenry. They have a national endowment fund to support it.”

He implored government and the Trades Union Congress (TUC), to secure a Post Retirement Health Care package for pensioners.

“Workers are left to foot their medical bills when they go on retirement. If you are working with a radio station and when you are injured the many times you are in the office, they will pay your bills but when you leave the office the business is ended.”

He renewed the Association’s cordial relations with SSNIT, saying, “Our relationship with SSNIT is important to us, and we hope to drive more benefits from this relationship. This is why we are interested and are demanding that our pension funds are prudently managed. For many of us, the SSNIT pension is all we have and it must not be threatened.”

Area Manager of SSNIT in charge of Northern Region, Joss- Arris Bougre, reassured the pensioners that their welfare remained SSNIT’s major concern.

“The welfare of pensioners is a concern to SSNIT and I am very happy that the General Secretary said this platform is meant to come out with strategies. I want to assure you that SSNIT is ever ready to support to improve the situation.”

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the Acting Chief Executive Officer of EOCO, ACP K. K. Amoah, the docket has been forwarded to the Attorney-General for scrutiny and advice.

EOCO started investigating SSNIT in August 2017 after it emerged that the Trust had injected $72 million on the  procurement and installation of a software and other hardware systems known as the Operational Business Suite (OBS) to digitize SSNIT’s operations.

[contextly_sidebar id=”DYxYygwSObrsuVhPhEaA9FPkcH7ERnx5″]The Trust had been widely lambasted over the project which is reportedly not fully functional.

The project included the installation of a software to ensure that its headquarters receives data directly from all of its offices.

Speaking to Accra based Joy FM today [Friday], February 23, 2018, Acting Chief Executive Officer of EOCO, ACP K. K. Amoah, said the “Attorney-General [Gloria Akuffo] is studying the docket and you will soon hear from her office”

Although he failed to give further details, ACP Amoah said “…some officers are being held responsible.”

15 witnesses appeared before EOCO

The Board Chairman of SSNIT, Kwame Addo Kufuor, in an earlier interview with Citi News in August 2017 confirmed that about 15 people appeared before EOCO as witnesses in the matter.

SSNIT also contracted PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an audit into the contract.

In a 4-point statement released in 2017, “SSNIT said it expects the names of the people associated with the I.T (OBS) contracts to be released in the near future.”

SSNIT further assured that it will publish findings from the audit by PricewaterhouoesCoopers into the matter.

Fake MIS boss

Amidst the controversy, it emerged that the General Manager of MIS at SSNIT, Caleb Afaglo, who was appointed to the position in 2015, did not hold the right qualifications.

He was interdicted by the management of the Trust over suspicions that his Bachelors’, Masters’ and Doctorate degrees were fake.

EOCO conducted raids in his house, seized his passport and froze his bank account to commence investigations into his qualifications.

EOCO also reportedly interrogated members of Mr. Afaglo’s household, and confiscated a number of documents belonging to him.

The Management of SSNIT subsequently said it was fully convinced that the degrees were fake and has therefore taken the decision to sack Mr. Afaglo.

Mr. Afaglo’s CV indicates that he acquired his BSC and MBA from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a PHD from the Kennedy Western University, which was an affiliate of the University of Cincinnati until it was closed down in 2011.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Per the move, pensioners 72 years and above will be considered as ‘ghosts’ hence will not be able to access their claims.

All pensioners are expected to renew their pension certificates annually to warrant payment of their monthly benefits from SSNIT.

The Head of Corporate Affairs at SSNIT, Victoria Gifty Abaidoo tells Citi Business News the directive should help in reducing unwarranted payments due to ‘ghost’ names.

“We want to purge our systems and also know that all those that all the people we are paying are still alive and we are paying them. So what we are saying is that we are giving everybody the opportunity till the end of January 2018,” she explained.

Mrs Abaidoo added, “From the 1^st of February, if you have not done your biometric registration and used that to renew your pensioners’ certificate, then the assumption is that you are no more and that we will have to delete your name from our pension payroll.”

The move comes days after the announcement of a ten percent rise in the minimum pension payment to beneficiaries.

According to SSNIT, the increase is to improve the welfare of contributors currently on pension.

Public sector payroll sanitized through SSNIT biometric system

A similar biometric exercise was carried out in the public sector in 2016 which led to the initial expulsion of some 23,029 names in April 2017 for failing to heed the original deadline scheduled for February 2017.

Several appeals led to the extension of the deadline and their subsequent inclusion in the public sector payroll.

At the time, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta stressed that the exercise is to ensure that no salaries are paid for no work done.

It also formed part of moves to protect the public purse.

The exercise, coupled with another one which involved the removal of ghost names, has been estimated to save the country some 250 million cedis.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

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It follows the upward review of the minimum pension paid to contributors which takes effect this year.

Per the move, pensioners on the payroll of SSNIT will now get a minimum benefit of GH¢303.60.

This is up from the GH¢276 that was paid as at 2017.

The Head of Corporate Affairs at SSNIT, Victoria Gifty Abaidoo justified the rise in minimum pension payment to Citi Business News.

“Contributions are paid on salaries and the salaries that we’ve collected the contributions on, didn’t have any increases. So increase in contributions that came are based upon the salaries that the contributions were paid. The percentage increase that we get serves as a basis for us to pay. So we are fulfilling what the law is asking us to do, based on the increases that we had in the course of the year,” she explained.

Madam Abaidoo added, “We are estimating that the purchasing power of pensioners will not be reviewed so if you have a decision of ten percent then that will be calculated as what will be the basis for SSNIT to increase the pensioners amount.”

The increase in the pension contributions is in line with the provisions of Section 80 of the National Pensions Act 2008 (Act 766).

According to SSNIT, the decision has also been influenced by consultation with the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA).

Meanwhile responding to a question on the decision to peg the rate at 10 percent and not a bit higher, the Corporate Affairs Manager stressed that the decision has been largely influenced by the current inflation levels.

“The base inflation that we have was 10 percent. Currently, the targeted inflation from the Ministry of Finance is about 8.7%. So if you look at it, the 10 percent figure is higher than the targeted figure. You cannot just increase or decrease pensioners arbitrarily. It’s based on the prevailing inflation that is how the benefits are calculated.”

Currently, SSNIT has over 187,000 pensioners enrolled unto the scheme.

The Trust also pays over GH¢172m to pensioners every month.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

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The Minister of Works and Housing, Samuel Atta-Akyea, said the ministry would seek Cabinet approval on a proposal to invest between 30 and 40 percent of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) funds in the proposed credible mortgage system to ensure that all workers had access to mortgage facilities.

[contextly_sidebar id=”9Ktph9KReTgcOHbAz2Ewrk4BGk0fag1l”]He was speaking at the celebration of the 2017 World Habitat Day in Accra on Monday under the theme “Housing policies: Affordable homes.”

The UN has designated the first Monday of October every year as World Habitat Day.

The celebration provides the platform for stakeholders and all individuals to reflect on the state of towns and cities and the right of all to adequate shelter.

It is also intended to remind the world that all citizens have the power and responsibility to help shape the future of the world’s cities and towns.

Mr. Atta-Akyea defined a credible mortgage facility as one that allowed all workers, irrespective of their salary income group, to have access to mortgage, and pay off with 30 per cent of their salaries over a period of time, in line with the international definition of affordability.

Considering the challenge of affordability and salary levels in Ghana, he said, Ghana needs a credible mortgage system, saying “that is what we are going to push for.”

He said the ministry is working hard to ensure that low and middle-income earners could access mortgage facilities and pay off with 30 percent of their salaries for an agreed duration.

“Affordable housing is uppermost in the planning of the ministry. We can never talk about affordable housing if we do not address the financing dimension of it to ensure that the low and middle-income group could access mortgage facilities.

“My investigations have established the absence of a credible mortgage system which allows the low and middle-income group to access housing loans,” he said.

He said the government, recognizing low income levels as a challenge on the demand side of housing in Ghana, had decided to focus on making affordable houses which are truly affordable through pragmatic policies such as the credible mortgage facility.

“What we do not understand is the essence of SSNIT. It is a mockery to say that someone contributed to the trust for so many years, but after pension he or she did not have a decent home of his or her own, no matter the type or how small it is, the fund can help or facilitate the purchase of a house.”

“As for SSNIT, some of its ideas are to make money, for which I don’t begrudge it at all, but it becomes unfortunate when it makes the money out of contributions by ordinary contributors but the contributors are deprived of the investments SSNIT makes,” he said.

He described the situation as diabolic and must stop with all urgency to make SSNIT more relevant to contributors.

He explained that the necessary interventions would be put in place to ensure that the interest on the mortgage loan would be pegged by the government, not through market forces, to ensure reasonable interest rate and accessibility for the target group.

Other interventions

Mr. Atta Akyea said the government is also considering alternative building technologies that could reduce the cost of decent housing to ensure that every worker had access to a decent house to meet his or her needs and financial status.

He said such technologies to be considered were wooden houses, as seen in the United States of America and other developed countries, container houses, brick houses and pre-fabricated houses.

He said the government was also considering public-private partnerships in addressing the more than 1.7 million housing deficit, as it had been established by many stakeholders that the government alone cannot address the problem.

On real estate agency practice, he said a draft policy paper expected to boost and regulate the practice, such as transactions, sale, purchase, rentals, leasing, among other objectives, is ready for approval by the Cabinet.

“Other interventions, which the government is putting in place to enhance the housing sector, include the amendment of the Rent Act to ensure that landlords and landladies charged only three months’ rent advance,” he added.

He also spoke about other measures to include the curbing of encroachment, illegal acquisition of government landed properties and the implementation of the national housing policy.

In her remarks, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Dr. Christine Evans-Klock, said the UN team in Ghana is committed to supporting the combined and concerted efforts of Ghana to deliver decent houses for all.

She said under the leadership of the UN-Habitat, the UN supported all levels of governments in meeting their commitments under international law related to adequate housing.

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By: Philip Nii Lartey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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These allegations had to do with annuities imposed on the payment of lump sums and the computation of average annual salaries for pensions.

[contextly_sidebar id=”YCjacsd7dh2oRsjzrk6jQHfCDdLLNZmD”]In a Finder Newspaper report, the Union said SSNIT has been cheating trustees, and held that the Trust had imposed annuity on the payment of lump sum, which reduces the lump sum for 12 years by 41.9%, in contrast with the PNDC Law 247 of 1991  regulating pensions.

The union compared this to the CAP 30, police pension, among others, which are paid gratuity without any annuity deductions.

But responding to the concerns and allegations, the acting Head of Corporate Affairs at SSNIT, Victoria Abaidoo, likened the pension contributions to an investment, which could accrue penalties if withdrawn prematurely.

The PNDC law 247’s Section 36 deals with the formula for computation of pensions and it says in that, “for the purpose of computing pension benefits a member may be paid a full or a reduced pension: Provided that such a member may exercise the option for a part lump sum payment of twenty-five per centum of his pension and a reduced pension payment.

Mrs. Baidoo explained that, per the law, retirees have an option to take 25 percent of the total benefit they are supposed to have for a period of 12 years at a go, and when you opt for the 25 percent lump sum, “what it means is that the payment that you are supposed to make in 12 years, you want to take it today.”

“…Like any financial transaction, if you want to take your money or your investment when it is not mature, it is discounted. So the annuity factor there is indicating that we are discounting the amount of money that you are supposed to get in 12 years and giving you the present value today.”

She also noted that the comparison of SSNIT to CAP 30 was a non-starter as that was not based on contributions.

“It is the government’s way of paying off people who have worked in the Civil Service as Senior officers, but when it comes to SSNIT,  it is the contribution you put in that determines how much you are going to get,” Mrs. Abaidoo said.

Calculating annual salary of best three years

The other bone of contention from the Health Services Workers’ Union has to do with the computation of the annual salary of the last three years of a worker in situations a worker retires before the last month of the year.

Section two of the PNDC law 247 says: “the minimum pension payment shall be based on fifty per centum of the average annual salary for the three best years of a member during his working life.”

The union noted as an example that, a member who retires on April 1, 2017, will, for example, have nine months’ salaries counted in 2014, four years preceding retirement, seemingly to his detriment as he will be cheated by SSNIT.

Mrs. Abaidoo, however, stands by this formula for calculating pensions, explaining that it would be impossible for the Trust to take contributions from unearned salaries.

“…When a contribution has come to SSNIT, we are looking at that salary that brought in the contribution to calculate your pension. So if your contribution has not come, how do we use an unknown salary to calculate your pension? So what happens here is, if the person actually retires in March… then they would have to go back to pick the number of months that will add up to the 12 months for us to get an annual salary to complete the pension.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We’re not cheating pensioners – SSNIT appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said the Authority is constrained in its oversight role over the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), due to the lack of express powers assigned the Authority.

SSNIT has been in the news over a $72 million software project, making some members question the viability of the fund.

[contextly_sidebar id=”CCgokAGpqB2PdX5CsTMn5mjDXwQRtXYy”]But speaking at a Graphic Business Forum on the pension fund on Tuesday, Mr. Osei Duah said the NPRA must be empowered to do more.

“I believe the problem we have is very simple – the entity that is supposed to regulate SSNIT, the national pension regulatory authority  is nowhere as powerful as SSNIT. I think all of you will agree with me on that. Until that change, I do not see anything changing. We need to have a situation where it becomes clear that SSNIT reports to the National Pension Regulatory Authority. We need to empower my good friend here [NPRA boss] and give him enough powers to summon the Director General of SSNIT and anybody including their board chairman to his office and query them,” he said.

The former SIC boss noted that, most people will clamour to be on the board of SSNIT instead of NPRA “even though that is a higher authority, and that should tell you why we are having the problems we are having. “

“So my point is that, we need to be a little more interested in what SSNIT is doing, we need to give the NPRA enough investigative powers,” he added.

Background

SSNIT is being investigated by EOCO for blowing $72 million on procuring and installing a software and other hardware systems known as the Operational Business Suite in a bid to digitize the Trust.

The cost, which was originally $34 million, later ballooned to $66 million and then to $72 million due to maintenance and additional infrastructure.

The Board Chairman of SSNIT, Kwame Addo Kufuor, in an earlier interview with Citi News, said about 15 people had appeared before EOCO as witnesses in the matter.

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By: Sixtus Dong Ullo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The federation has written to Trade Union Congress and all other members of organised labour, in this regard.

[contextly_sidebar id=”plowTSuCJNwUdTEHJC8dOVENSDCQLYGf”]SSNIT is being investigated by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) for spending $72 million to procure and install an Operational Business Suite (OBS) in a bid to digitize the Trust.

In an interview with Citi News, the General Secretary of the Ghana Federation of Labour, Abraham Koomson, said pressure from organised labour will move the government to take the needed action to tackle the mismanagement at SSNIT in a transparent manner.

“We cannot, on our own, take decisions that will impact on SSNIT operations that is why we have to involve other colleagues to inform the government about our misgivings.”

“…we would have to make sure we put pressure on the government to make things visible in dealing with the matters that have to do with the mismanagement of  SSNIT, and this cannot be done by only the GFL. We have to consult with our other colleagues to be able to take a stand that will compel the government to sit up and do what is right for the fund,” Mr. Koomson said.

The Federation, in an earlier statement, said this software scandal was only “one of the symptoms of the malaise plaguing SSNIT and rendering the scheme unsustainable.”

The SSNIT Board has contracted PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an audit into the bloated OBS contract.

The GFL also raised concerns about some diaries being procured by SSNIT, describing such expenses as “profligate expenditure” and far from SSNIT’s mandate.

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By: Naa Kwarmah/Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the Federation, such expenses can only be described as “profligate expenditure” and far from SSNIT’s mandate.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PDpwSDhhwyLCDoMUhu0FlXOFzZlgVNlm”]“Even though the new management has instituted a forensic audit into SSNIT operations, we observe with disquiet, evidence of profligate expenditure and opulence being displayed again. For instance the advertisement by SSNIT published in the Ghanaian Times of 16^th June 2017 inviting tenders for supply of luxury executive diaries, luxury desk diaries, deluxe/luxury slim pocket diaries etc for the year 2018, is indeed worrying,” the Federation said in a statement signed by its Secretary General, Abraham Koomson.

It also described the development as worrying and said: “these happenings and the philanthropic gesture of SSNIT Management towards non-members of the scheme blatantly defeats the purpose for which the SSNIT was established.”

This comes on the back of an investigation being carried into the activities of SSNIT following a revelation of a procurement and installation of $72 million software and hardware components for a digitization project undertaken by the Trust.

GFL in the statement further wants government to make public a report carried into the operations of SSNIT in 2001, which according to GFL “revealed gross mismanagement of SSNIT.”

“While awaiting the result of another inquiry to unearth yet another heinous conspiracy to fleece SSNIT, we demand of government to recognize the ownership of the Fund and act to halt the menace in the interest of national security and economic growth,” the statement added.

Background

SSNIT is being investigated by EOCO for blowing $72 million on procuring and installing a software and other hardware systems known as the Operational Business Suite in a bid to digitize the Trust.

The cost, which was originally $34 million, later ballooned to $66 million and then to $72 million due to maintenance and additional infrastructure.

The Board Chairman of SSNIT, Kwame Addo Kufuor, in an earlier interview with Citi News, said about 15 people had appeared before EOCO as witnesses in the matter.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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The Federation in a statement said this scandal was only “one of the symptoms of the malaise plaguing SSNIT and rendering the scheme unsustainable.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”ptWooHyytXknEbYml2rJj6xeu2kq7md7”]The GFL leadership said it shudders at the consequences of the imminent collapse of the scheme, as some industry watchers have warned, and it is “mindful of the serious financial and social crises.”

The SSNIT Board has contracted PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an audit into the bloated OBS contract, but the GFL notes that, “even though the management has instituted a forensic audit into SSNIT operations, we observe with disquiet, evidence of profligate expenditure and opulence being displayed again.”

As an example of this profligacy, the Federation cited the advertisement by SSNIT, published in the Ghanaian Times of June 16, 2017, inviting tenders for the supply of luxury executive diaries, luxury desk diaries, deluxe luxury slim pocket diaries, among others, for the year 2018.

It described this development as worrying and said: “these happenings and the philanthropic gesture of SSNIT Management towards non-members of the scheme blatantly defeats the purpose for which the SSNIT was established.”

Findings of 2001 audit

The GFL, in its statement said it had been made aware of a forensic audit of SSNIT operations conducted in 2001.

This audit reportedly revealed “gross mismanagement of the Fund and therefore demand the publication of the report and implementation of the recommendations contained therein,” according to the GFL.

“While awaiting the result of the another inquiry to unearth yet another heinous conspiracy to fleece SSNIT, we demand of government to recognize the ownership of the fund and act to halt the menace in the interest of national security and economic growth,” the Fedaration added.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Scandal proves SSNIT is unsustainable – Labor Federation appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.