Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations has made known to the general public that, no new Ministry has been created for pensions.
A statement issued by the Ministry revealed that the attention of the Ministry had been drawn to various news articles and social media posts suggesting that a Pensions Ministry has been created, of which Hon Ignatius Baffour Awuah has been appointed as its new Sector Minister.
“The letter emanating from the President only seeks to formally assign the two institutions that is, the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) and the National Security and Social Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to Mr. Ignatius Baffour-Awuah as an additional responsibility.”
Ministry of Employment
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, it would be grateful if all concerned would disregard the erroneous impression being created by the articles in the media and on various social media platforms. ”He is still the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations. What has happened is, Pension which should ordinarily be under his Ministry has formally been sent under his Ministry,” he emphasized.
Naturally, Act 766, National Pensions Act 2008 implicitly put the Labour Minister in charge of pensions but somewhere during President Mahama’s administration it was sent to the Finance Ministry and it continued until it was detected recently.
Section 13 of the Act makes it an anomaly for the Finance Minister to be the Minister in Charge of Pensions simply because the Act states that the Minister responsible for Pensions should consult the Finance Minister in the determination of the allowances of the members of the Pension Board and Committee and so it is not possible for the Finance Minister to consult himself in paying that.
So the Minister per section 211 of the Act (interpretation) can’t be the Finance Minister but another Minister hence the add-on work for Mr Baffour-Awuah.
Labour Holds Government to ‘Exemption to all pension funds’ Promise
Meanwhile, Organised Labour on Wednesday February 1, 2022 revealed it will stick with a promise by the government to exempt all pension funds from its Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDE). It will thus not participate, nor permit the inclusion of any of its Pension Schemes in any Domestic Exchange Programme, according to a resolution passed by Organised Labour and contained in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.
According to Organised Labour, per an agreement it signed with the Government of Ghana on Thursday, 22nd December, 2022, the non-inclusion of pension funds in the programme was final.
The group therefore served notice that it will fiercely resist any attempt to go contrary to that position. According to Oganised labour, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, signed the said agreement on behalf of the Government while Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah, Secretary General of TUC, signed on behalf of Organised Labour.
Many are the workers groups and individuals who have opposed the inclusion of pension funds and vulnerable groups in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, with many predicting untold hardship on the economy and individuals. They include; Organised Labour, the Mine Workers Union, the Communications Workers Union, the Association of Ghana Industries, the Africa Centre for Retirement Research (ACRR) and Finance Lecturer, Professor Lord Mensah, who argued that pension funds exemptions from the programme should not come at a great cost.
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