Management of Social Security and National Insurance Trust(SSNIT) has introduced a "Saturday Service" to strengthen the already existing service delivery protocols.

The initiative is in response to a request from clients to provide an opportunity for them to do business with SSNIT on Saturdays because of their inability to visit the offices during the weekdays.

Deputy Director-General of SSNIT, Mr Michael Addo, who launched the initiative, said the Saturday Service which began on October 2, would be piloted in nine selected branches in the country.

He said feedback from the exercise would inform management's decision to extend the service to other branches.  

In Accra, the service is available at Accra Industrial Area Branch, Trust Towers Branch, Legon Branch and Airport City Branch.

In Tema, clients can visit the Community 2 and Harbour branches while in Kumasi, the Adum and Asafo branches would be opened for business and the Takoradi Branch.

The branches will be opened from 9 AM to 2 PM every Saturday.

With the initiative, Mr Addo said clients could walk into the selected branches on Saturdays and transact business with SSNIT, register biometrically, update records, merge their SSNIT and National Insurance Authority numbers, and request for a statement of account.

He said retirees could apply for their benefits or check on the status of their application and stressed that for those who have turned 72, their staff would be there to assist them to renew their Pensioner certificates.

"For employers, this additional day of service means that you can register your business, submit and validate your contribution reports as well as pay contributions especially when the 14th of the Month falls on a Saturday," he said.

He said the Trust in 2018 established the "Pensioner Priority Desks" in all the branches to ensure that pensioners were promptly attended to without having to join long queues while the benefits application process had been made more efficient and shortened from about 47 days to 10 working days.

"To enable more access and convenience, we are currently in partnership with about 20 banks where employers can pay their contributions without necessarily coming to our branches. Employers can easily submit and get their Contribution Reports validated online," he said.

"We have strengthened our presence in the digital or social media space. From followership of about 7,000 in 2017, we are currently at about 500,000 followers and we interact with and attend to about 550 client enquiries and issues on a weekly basis."

The Deputy Director-General said from the first quarter of 2021, SSNIT had been sending out quarterly statements to members to help them keep track of their contributions.

President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Affail Monney, commended SSNIT for the initiative, describing it as a "ground-breaking" event to provide seamless service on Saturdays.

"About five years ago, I visited the SSNIT office to assess my pension benefit and the urgent attention with which I was served dispel the negative notion about the Trust," he said.

He commended the media for their service and urged them to focus more on the positives of the event for national growth.