NPRA urges pension schemes to ensure timeous payment of investments  

Mr Hayford Attah Krufi, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA), has urged pension schemes to ensure the timeous payment of investments and payouts to retirees to guarantee a decent living.

He said the Authority was working towards getting every Ghanaian worker onto a pension scheme to ensure they retired on decent pension and receive their entitlements promptly.

Mr Krufi said this at the Third National Pension Fair and Exhibition, dubbed: “My Pension, My Future,” which is to get all Ghanaians to benefit from the 2010 National Pension Reforms.

The three-day event, happening simultaneously in the satellite offices of the NPRA in the regions, is to create awareness, especially for those in the informal sector, of the need to enroll in pension schemes to adequately prepare for their retirement.

All industry players in the sector are participating in the fair to increase pension awareness and enrolment across sectors through showcasing their products and assisting prospective applicants to enroll.

“As we educate and inform the public, it is our mandate to also enforce by ensuring that the market players, our trustees, our fund managers, our custodians also abide by the rule of the law to ensure that investments and payouts when one retires are done timely,” Mr Krufi said.

“It is our responsibility to continue to inform Ghanaians to understand that pension is for all of us, and we must plan for it.”

“Pension is what we live for when we retire and there is a lot to live for if we prepare and plan adequately for it.”

He said even though the Government had established social intervention schemes to cushion the aged, there was still much more to be done for retirees.

“That’s why the NPRA, over the years, have been working hard to drum home Ghana’s Pension Agenda through media sensitisations and outreach programmes, market activation and pension clinics, among others.”

Despite the enormous efforts to whip up the interest of Ghanaians towards pension, especially those in the informal sector, the numbers continue to be very low.

The Authority had, therefore, formulated comprehensive marketing strategies to improve the low statistics by vigorously and progressively increasing pension coverage awareness by 2026.

“By our strategic plan, we hope by 2026 to raise it from the current six per cent to 25 per cent and to an overall 40 per cent for both the formal and informal sectors,” he said, and called for support to achieve the target.

The Authority had also arranged with the Presbyterian Church of Ghana to institute a Pension Sunday, which would have every first Sunday in October being used to sensitise members on pension related issues, Mr Krufi said.

“NPRA is also in collaboration with COCOBOD to roll out pension scheme for over 1.5 million Ghanaian cocoa farmers.”

“We are also in talks with the GPRTU, GFA, among other private unions to facilitate enrolling of their unions.”

Mr Ignatius Bafour Awuah, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, in brief remarks on his behalf, said pension began the very day one was employed and urged all to show keen interest to guarantee a comfortable retirement.

Mr Paul Simon Koranteng, the Board Chairman, NPRA, said everyone needed a pension because there must be a future beyond retirement.

He urged the public, especially the youth, to register with the scheme to ensure decent living after active service.

Source: GNA