Pensioners don’t need lawyers to access benefits – NPRA
Mr Hayford Attah-Krufi, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), has stated that pensioners do not need lawyers to access their pension benefits after retirement.
He said the days when pensioners went through severe struggles to access their benefits were over because of the pragmatic measures the Authority had put in place for all pensions providers including the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to follow.
He bemoaned the process where pensioners would have to live miserable lives after pension chasing their benefits for years.
An official statement signed by Nana Sifa Twum, the Head of Corporate Affairs and copied the GNA said, Mr Attah Krufi was speaking at an outreach campaign by the NPRA in the Oti Region.
The outreach programme encouraged the informal sector workers in the area to understand and appreciate the need to join and actively participate in pension schemes.
The week-long programme saw fora on pensions at Kete-Krachi, Dambai and Nkwanta to educate the informal sector workers.
The NPRA also educated formal sector workers on pensions and issues affecting them.
The CEO noted: “When all processes are done well and in time, accessing one’s pension benefit must not be surrounded by any form of litigation or ends in the law courts.
He added: “After serving one’s country, no one needs to go through any form of stress to receive what is due him.”
Mr Krufi, therefore, advised employees to regularly update their records with the pension service providers, especially the SSNIT, to facilitate the processing of their benefits.
He mentioned some of the causes of delays in the processing of pension benefits as multiple dates of birth, irregular gaps in contribution and change of names and cautioned employees to check these before their retirement.
He said the Third-Tier pension scheme is designed to help the informal sector workers to participate in pensions to enable them to avert old-age poverty.
He noted that it is a voluntary, fully funded by members and a privately managed provident fund and personal pension scheme that ensures retirement income security for all Ghanaians.
He observed that the third-tier pensions were profound social interventions that were designed to deliver social benefits and develop the human capital of workers in the informal sector, describing it as a safety net and social protection.
Dr Joshua Makubu, Oti Regional Minister, expressed delight in the efforts by the NPRA to bring pension matters close to the people in the region.
He said it was time for all Ghanaian workers to be on a pension scheme irrespective of the work they do.
Source: GNA