The Social Security and National Insurance Trust fund (SSNIT) has been told to cut down its administrative costs to enable it pay past credits to pensioners.
This was said in a statement by Mr Isaac Bampoe Addo, Chairman of the Forum for Public Sector Registered Pension Schemes (FORUM), in response to SSNIT’s claim that it is in financial distress.
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According to them, SSNIT’s inability to pay past credits owed pensioners is due to the institution’s high administration costs.
“SSNIT’s administrative costs should be cut, their administration cost is hovering around 20 per cent, while ours is capped at 2.5 per cent. We are not going to deny the rights of our members because they say they are in distress,” he said.
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Mr Addo further accused SSNIT of cheating workers for years, saying the current seven per cent per annum interest members receive from SSNIT is inadequate and contrary to law, since other schemes are paying up to 19 per cent.
The Forum for Public Sector Registered Pension Schemes, also accused SSNIT of cheating its members in its computation of past credit contributions made to SSNIT by workers, before the coming into force of Act 766, which brought about the three-tier pension scheme.
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SSNIT has, however, denied allegations leveled against it by the FORUM saying that it is fully committed to paying all Past Credit based on an agreement reached by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, the Ministry of Finance, the National Pensions Regulatory Authority, SSNIT and representatives of the Forum for Public Sector Registered Pension Scheme (FORUM).
Meanwhile, the Forum for Public Sector Registered Pension Schemes, has threatened a sit-down strike of its retiree members from January 1, 2020 should they fail to make full payments of past credits as directed by the National Pensions Regulatory Authority.