The Concerned SSNIT Pensioners Forum (CSPF) has criticised the Social Security and National Insurance Trust’s (SSNIT) announcement of a 10 per cent average pension increase for 2026, describing it as inadequate and incapable of easing the economic hardship facing retirees, particularly those on low incomes.

In a statement issued on January 10, the Forum said while it appreciates the upward adjustment, the increase fails to address the deep erosion in the real value of pensions and does little to prevent pensioner poverty at a time when the cost of living continues to rise sharply.

The Forum recalled that on November 19, 2025, it petitioned SSNIT to urgently raise the minimum pension to a livable level and correct what it describes as long-standing injustices in the annual indexation of pensions.

Copies of the petition were also sent to the Minister for Finance, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, and the Chief Executive Officer of the National Pensions Authority, seeking their intervention.

According to the Forum, the petition proposed that the 2026 pension adjustment should restore part of the value lost over the years by raising the minimum monthly pension to GH¢600 and granting an average increase of between 15 and 20 per cent.

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It argued that the 2025 minimum pension payment of GH¢396.58 was grossly insufficient, noting that some pensioners on this amount struggle to afford medication and have become dependent on others for basic survival.

The Forum said it met with SSNIT on December 10, 2025, and was assured that the petition would be forwarded to the relevant approving authorities.

However, it has since raised concerns over what it describes as inconsistencies in SSNIT’s public statements on minimum pension levels for 2025 and 2026.

It pointed to a January 6, 2025 press release in which SSNIT stated that the minimum monthly pension would rise from GH¢300 in 2024 to GH¢396.58 in 2025, and a January 8, 2026 release which indicated that the minimum pension for new pensioners would increase from GH¢300 to GH¢400, with some pensioners expected to receive GH¢409.56 after indexation and redistribution.

The CSPF is therefore calling on SSNIT to clarify what constitutes a minimum pension in Ghana, stressing that percentage increases alone are meaningless without a guaranteed minimum living pension.

It warned that many pensioners still cannot afford food, medicine or basic healthcare, making annual increments disconnected from the lived realities of the elderly.

The Forum is advocating for the adoption of a national minimum pension policy, similar to the national minimum wage, to ensure retirees can live with dignity.

"We therefore call for an urgent inclusive national dialogue involving SSNIT, policymakers, organized labour, pensioner associations, economic planners, and civil society to establish a sustainable, livable pension framework and set a realistic minimum pension benchmark.

"Without this fundamental policy shift, the dignity and well-being of Ghana’s retirees will remain under threat, especially as healthcare costs continue to rise with age. Pensioners have served Ghana with dedication and deserve to live with dignity, not in destitution."

The CSPF said it will continue engaging SSNIT and relevant institutions in its pursuit of pension justice, equity and policies that safeguard the dignity and wellbeing of pensioners across the country.