SSNIT To Undertake Prudent Investments

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has indicated that it will continue to invest the contributions of workers of its social security scheme in profitable ventures.

The move, it said, was to enable the Trust to have better returns to sustain the scheme.

The Director-General of the Trust, Mr Kwasi Osei, gave the assurance when he delivered a report on the scheme at the Fourth SSNIT Stakeholders forum in Accra.

The forum which attracted a large number of employers and workers provided a platform for the public to review the performance of the scheme in order to chart the way forward.

“Investment is one of the critical functions in the management of the social security scheme; as a partially funded scheme, we are challenged to maximise the returns on the contributions to enable us meet payment of benefits as and when they fall due”, he said.

The total investment portfolio of SSNIT as of the end of December 2007 grew by 37 per cent from Gh¢1,195.2 million in 2007 to Gh¢1,639.8 million.

Mr Osei said the Trust was also adopting the aggressive application of the social security statute to enforce compliance by recalcitrant employers.

This measure is in respect of employers total indebtedness to SSNIT in respect of social security contribution as of December 31, 2007 which stood at Gh¢54.44 million, representing an increase of 26.5 per cent over the previous year's figure of Gh¢43.03 million.

Mr Osei said the Trust would also prosecute defaulting employers.

He said while doing so, the Trust would not ignore negotiations for payment of contribution arrears by genuinely distressed employers.

During the public forum, members congratulated the management and board of the Trust for the openness in which the scheme was being operated and called for the pensions paid to be increased to reflect the present economic conditions prevailing in the country.

Story by Charles Benoni Okine