The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has launched its annual Mobile Service Week at Ho in the Volta Region.

The SSNIT Mobile Service (SMS) Week is an annual event that provides SSNIT branches the opportunity to pitch camp at various locations across the country to bring the services of the Trust to the doorsteps of its Members and Clients.

A total of 69 vantage locations have been selected across the 16 regions of the country to provide services to Members and Clients to enable them access the services of the Trust with ease.

Services being offered include issuance of Statements of Accounts, registration of employers and workers, benefits processing initiation, renewal of Pensioner Certificates, merging of SSNIT and NIA numbers, general enquiries about the business and operations of SSNIT among other services.

The event being observed under the theme: “You also deserve a Pension; Join SSNIT today” began today, 3^rd October, 2022 and is expected to end on Friday, 7^th October, 2022.

Speaking during his keynote address, the Director-General of SSNIT, Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, noted the theme for the occasion is borne out of the Trust’s commitment to ensure every worker in Ghana receives a decent pension.

He indicated that self-employed workers in the country constitute the largest working population but most of these workers have no social security cover and it is in their interest to register onto the Scheme and enjoy the benefits.

“We assure you of our commitment to vigorously pursue and enrol all workers especially the self-employed.  This is because the Trust recognises that the self – employed and workers in the informal sector form the majority of the 10 million or so workers in Ghana, and like their colleagues in the formal sector, they also deserve a pension”.

“The SSNIT Scheme is one of the surest ways to reduce and prevent poverty among the aged. So instead of re-echoing the misconceptions of low pensions which tend to discourage most self-employed, let’s share with them the value SSNIT provides and inform them that if their contributions or premiums are high, then their pensions will be high”, he said.

Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang further encourage everyone to support the Trust’s campaign by urging their families and friends within their circles to sign up onto the Scheme and enjoy the benefits the Scheme offers.

As part of measures to enhance service delivery, Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang noted that the Trust will soon introduce an enhanced and interactive self-service portal which will allow Members and Clients to perform a number of activities on the SSNIT’s website. These activities he said will enable employers to request, view and download Clearance Certificate, request for a negotiation meeting for outstanding debts and also allow Members to initiate registration onto the Scheme, view nominee list, check member information, initiate and track benefits application, among other activities.  

“Pensioners will also be able to renew their Pensioner Certificates and view pension payment Advice. I am happy to announce that in about a week from today, members can pay their contributions using Momo and pensioners can also opt to receive their pensions through Momo (ELEVY exempt) and by close of the year, the SSNIT app will be fully functional”, he added.

In his address, the Volta Regional Minister, Hon. Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa commended Management of SSNIT for leveraging technology to make the services of the Trust more accessible to Members and Clients.

“Technology has allowed for the reduction of administrative costs associated with printing of SSNIT Cards and reduced the time pensioners have to wait to collect their first pension as they can now payment within a maximum of two weeksafter submitting their application”, he noted.

Since the beginning of the year, the Trust has been engaging stakeholders of the Scheme notably, players in the informal sector and self-employed as well as regional and district leaders of Organised Labour. The engagements formed part of deliberate efforts to extend coverage to the many self-employed workers who do not have any form of social security cover.

The SMS Week will also provide the Trust the opportunity to intensify education of Members and the public about their rights and responsibilities under the Scheme as the Trust seeks to sign-on more Members, especially, self-employed workers onto the Scheme.

Customer Service Week

This year’s SMS also coincides with the Customer Service Week – an international celebration instituted in 1991 and observed in the first week of October. The week is commemorated to appreciate the importance of customer service and of the people who serve and support customers on a daily basis.

Customer Service Week is observed in the first week of October and the event is celebrated annually across the globe to place emphasis on the importance of customer service and the people who provide those services.

The celebration is aimed at raising awareness on the value of customer service, rewarding employees for the significant work outputs, improving morale at workplace and building on teamwork among other reasons.