Former CEO of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority, Dr. Daniel Seddoh is blaming the current brouhaha over public sector pension funds on misinterpretation and misapplication of the new law.

Public Sector workers remain on strike because they want their funds to be managed by their appointed Corporate Trustees.

But at a press briefing yesterday Communications Minister, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah emphasized that government approved Pensions Alliance Trust after a formal bidding process over-seen by a stakeholder committee.

Dr. Seddoh says government must rather concern itself with instituting a Board of Trustees rather than a Corporate Trustee for such an occupational pensions scheme.

“I can appreciate the concerns of government that it is guaranteeing ultimately. I think that guarantee comes in a different form than the way we are approaching it. Government controls every regulatory agency so they should guarantee every scheme. For me, that is why Government should be guaranteeing that NPRA is well-resourced and doing their work very well.

“They prescribe what the investment option should be and so Government has influence there to say you can channel your pension mobilization to this instrument or that one. The biggest enemy of pensions is inflation and so if Government can keep inflation very low, pensioners can get real value for their money,” he said.

Government has also maintained it is taking the responsibility in the management of the pension funds primarily to ensure the retirement-income of public sector workers is secured.

But Dr. Seddoh says government rather needs to look at the bigger picture to achieve this goal.

“If we are thinking about the act, it’s not about corporate trustees. It’s about the trustee representing both employer and employees. And if the act says at least one-third of the trustees should be representing workers. And we are talking of one corporate trustee, then we have a big challenge there.

“So what is the worker’s participation in appointing one corporate trustee? The ultimate risk rests with the contributor. If something goes wrong, they have lost their money. Let’s also remember that the scheme in itself is a separate entity from Government or employer,” he concluded.