The Minority Caucus in Parliament has raised serious concerns regarding an GH¢8 million foreign training initiative conducted by the National Pensions Regulatory Authority in the United States. Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, addressed journalists to demand an immediate and thorough investigation into these substantial expenditures.
The legislator revealed that the two week programme at Bentley University in Boston involved eleven board members alongside six directors and senior management staff. He noted that preliminary estimates placed the cost of business class air travel for these individuals at approximately GH¢2.38 million.
The financial burden on the ordinary pensioner increased significantly when accounting for the accommodation and per diem allowances which reached nearly GH¢4 million. These figures excluded the additional costs for tuition fees and logistics which the authority failed to disclose to the public.
The Old Tafo representative questioned the necessity of traveling to the United States when local institutions like the University of Professional Studies, Accra offered comparable training. He argued that the decision to fly the entire board and senior management abroad placed an avoidable strain on the pension system.
Detailed calculations provided by the Minority indicated that board members received daily per diems of $1500 per person. This specific component of the travel budget for the board members alone amounted to approximately GH¢2.4 million over the fourteen day period.
The six directors also received significant dollar denominated allowances, priced at 700$ each, which further inflated the total cost of the American expedition. Honourable Vincent argued that these administrative decisions occurred while Ghanaian workers contributed their hard earned wages to a system intended for their future security.
“Even me as a Member of Parliament, the per diem given to me is just about 496 but board members of NPRA sit there and pay themselves $1500. I have the calculation here. The per diem for the 11 board members is $1500 times 14 days times 11 which gives you 231,000 dollars and that’s approximately 2.4 million Ghana cedis. Now for the 6 NPRA directors, if each is given $700 multiply by 6 times 14 that is 58,000 dollars and approximately 700,000 cedis and you also add the 17 business class air tickets. This is also excluding the tuition fees.”
Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah
The Minority emphasized that transparency remained essential for any institution managing the retirement funds of the national workforce. They urged the relevant authorities to subject these expenses to full scrutiny to ensure the protection of the pension scheme.
The total expenditure remained a point of contention as it exceeded GH¢8 million without the inclusion of tuition fees or incidental expenses. The Minority Caucus insisted that such spending patterns required a formal explanation to the contributors who funded these administrative activities.
National Pensions Authority Staff Transfers Incur GH1 Million Financial Loss
The Minority Caucus in Parliament reported that the transfer of eleven staff members by the National Pensions Regulatory Authority since 2025 resulted in a GH¢1 million loss. Vincent Ekow Assafuah described these internal movements as politically motivated actions that drained resources intended for the administration of pensions.
The Member of Parliament explained that each individual transfer cost the authority approximately GH¢90,000 in mandatory payments to the affected employees. These expenses covered the relocation and incidental costs associated with moving staff members across different regions or departments within a short timeframe.
Honorable Vincent questioned the business logic behind these decisions and suggested that such funds would never be spent so freely in a private enterprise. He highlighted that these eleven transfers occurred rapidly after the current leadership took over the management of the institution.
Internal administrative decisions also came under fire due to concerns regarding rapid promotions and the appointment of personnel without relevant expertise. Reports indicated that a personal aide with a background as a veterinary doctor received a promotion to the position of assistant manager.
The Minority stressed that public institutions must ground all appointments in merit and institutional need to maintain the integrity of the civil service. He further argued that using administrative discretion to elevate specific individuals undermined the morale of long serving staff members.“Pension contributors are entitled to ask whether such repeated internal movement of staff at such cost represent the best use of scarce pension administrative resources,” the lawmaker told the gathered media.
He also pointed that these transfers appeared to target individuals based on their perceived political affiliations. He further noted that this pattern of behavior suggested a partisan approach to human resource management within a critical regulatory body.
The financial impact of these transfers added to the growing list of grievances the Minority held against the current leadership of the authority. They maintained that the GH¢90,000 paid per transferee represented a significant sum that required justification through documented institutional requirements.
The Member of Parliament called for a freeze on such unnecessary movements to prevent further depletion of the administrative budget. He insisted that the funds managed by the authority belonged to the workers of Ghana and should be treated with the utmost care.
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