Mr Hayford Attah-Krufi, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), has stated that pensioners do not need the services of lawyers to access their pension benefits after retirement.

The Chief Executive Officer of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority bemoaned the situation where pensioners live miserable lives after retirement because they keep chasing their benefits for years without most of them getting their benefits most times.

“The days when pensioners went through severe struggles to access their benefits are over because of the pragmatic measures the Authority has put in place for all pension providers, including the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), to follow.”
Mr Hayford Attah-Krufi

Mr Attah Krufi made this statement at an outreach campaign by the NPRA in the Oti Region. The outreach programme was geared towards encouraging the informal sector workers in the area to understand and appreciate the need to join and actively participate in pension schemes. The week-long programme saw fora on pensions at Kete-Krachi, Dambai and Nkwanta to educate the informal sector workers. The National Pensions Regulatory Authority also seized the opportunity to rope in the educated and formal sector workers on pensions and issues affecting them.

No One Needs to go through Any Form of Stress to Receive Benefits

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority, when a contributor fills his membership form well and follows the right procedure, the pensioner should not have any issue accessing his/her contributions.

“When all processes are done well and in time, accessing one’s pension benefit must not be surrounded by any form of litigation or ends in the law courts. After serving one’s country, no one needs to go through any form of stress to receive what is due him.”
Mr Hayford Attah-Krufi

Mr Krufi, therefore, advised employees to regularly update their records with the pension service providers, especially the SSNIT, to facilitate the processing of their benefits.

The Chief Executive Officer, meanwhile, mentioned some of the possible causes of delays in the processing of pension benefits. Some of them include: multiple dates of birth, irregular gaps in contribution, and change of names. He thus, cautioned employees to check these details before their retirement.

Mr Krufi moreover, educated pensioners on the Third-Tier pension scheme, noting that it is designed to help the informal sector workers to participate in pensions to enable them to avert old-age poverty. “It is a voluntary, fully funded by members and a privately managed provident fund and personal pension scheme that ensures retirement income security for all Ghanaians.”

The CEO asserted that the third-tier pension is a profound social interventions that is designed to deliver social benefits and develop the human capital of workers in the informal sector, describing it as “a safety net and social protection.”

Dr Joshua Makubu, Oti Regional Minister, expressed delight in the efforts by the NPRA to bring pension matters close to the people in the region.

The Minister averred that it is time for all Ghanaian workers to be on a pension scheme irrespective of the work they do.