The Director General of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, has disclosed that the scheme last year, registered a lot of new members who kept the organization afloat.

According to the Director General, SSNIT was able to register 214, 000 new members.

Not limited to that, Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang noted that, the Scheme disbursed GH¢4billion in benefits to pensioners and they were committed to paying benefits promptly to all beneficiaries on their pay roll.

Touching on the increment of monthly pensions by 25 percent, Dr Ofori-Tenkorang lauded the decision to increase the monthly pensions by that margin, noting that it will help pensioners have a better retirement benefit.

Mr. Stephen Boakye, the General-Secretary of the National Pensioners Association, also commenting on the increment, said the Association welcomes the increment. He as well commended the leadership of SSNIT for the increment, saying it was a good decision.

“We never thought of getting a 25 per cent increment from the previous 10 per cent received during the COVID-19.”
Mr. Stephen Boakye

Mr. Stephen Boakye noted the organization would be reaching out to employers because most of them have not been paying their employees’ pension deductions and this could affect them after retirement.

“We call on all workers to take this exercise serious and add up their pension contribution if the need be to be able to benefit soon.”
Mr. Stephen Boakye

SSNIT Adopts Mechanism To Cushion Low Income Pension Earners

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust, in consultation with the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), has increased monthly pensions upwards by 25 per cent for the year 2023.

According to NPRA, the increment is in line with Section 80 of the National Pensions Act 2008 (Act 766).

Mr. Joseph Poku, the Chief Actuary at SSNIT, explaining the mechanisms at a press briefing, said all pensioners on the SSNIT Pension Payroll as of December 31, 2022, would have their monthly pension increased by a fixed rate of 30 per cent plus a redistributed flat amount of GH¢73.58.

Mr. Poku noted that the redistribution was a mechanism applied to the indexation rate to cushion low-earning pensioners in conformity with the solidarity principle of social security. He explained that the review was informed by wage inflation, consumer price index for the year, liquidity, and long sustainability.

The Chief Actuaries stated that the effective increase in pensions would therefore range from 19.05 per cent for the highest-earning pensioner to 43.53 per cent for the lowest-earning pensioner.

“Accordingly, the highest-earning pensioner as of December 31, 2022, will receive GH¢169,725.89 per month in 2023. Meanwhile, the lowest-earning pensioner as of December 31, 2022, will have his / her monthly pension increased from GH¢300 to GH¢430.58 in 2023.”
Mr. Joseph Poku

However, Last year, the increment was fixed at 10 per cent.