The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has eliminated over 11,000 ‘ghost’ names from its pensions payroll, saving the Trust about GH¢130 million.
This was after an internal audit uncovered that some pensioners might have passed on, but are still receiving monthly pension benefits.
The exercise forms part of efforts aimed at improving the sustainability of the Scheme.
The Director-General of SSNIT, Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, revealed this on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programmeon Wednesday.
“When we took over the administration, we noticed that there were pensionerson the Scheme who were as old as 101 years, so we wanted to make sure that these pensioners were indeed alive”, he noted.
The exercise has so far resulted in the deletion of over 11,000 ‘ghost’ pensioners, saving the Trust about GH¢130 million.
He insisted it is possible for pensioners within the above stated age category to be alive, but after an extensive audit, it was found that a number of them were not alive.
The exercise, according to the SSNIT boss, has helped in ensuring that only deserving pensioners are paid their due since he took over in 2017.
He also noted that SSNIT has intensified its public education efforts and compliance to enable workers know the contributions being paid on their behalf.
Listen to Dr Ofori-Tenkorang: