From June 28, 2021, the integration of the platforms of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and that of National Identification Card will take off.

According to the Director General of SSNIT, Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, this transition ties in with the country’s quest to improve the ease of doing business with the Trust.

Secondly, it makes SSNIT fully compliant with the National Identity Register Regulations, 2012, L.I. 2111 which requires the use of the Ghana Card as a means of identification for transactions pertaining to individuals in respect of pensions.

Speaking at a stakeholder meeting, Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang said “this transition ties in nicely with our quest to improve the ease of doing business with the Trust. Your convenience means everything to us, and the switch to using the Ghana Card will mean you only have to carry that one card for practically all your transactions”.

He explained that “not only will adoption of the card provide great benefits to both members/clients and SSNIT, but it will also make us fully compliant with the National Identity Register Regulations, 2012, L.I. 2111 which requires the use of the Ghana Card as a means of identification for transactions pertaining to individuals in respect of pensions and the subsequent directives we receive from the NPRA, our regulator”.

There are presently 1.6 million active SSNIT contributors and will be integrated with the NIA platforms by the end of the year.

The Director-General called on all stakeholders to fully support the initiative by urging all their employees and members to ensure that they merge their numbers when the programme finally takes off.

“The plan is that by end of this year we would have merged all the numbers of our existing members and migrated them onto the NIA platform; and that will enable us to ensure the Ghana Card becomes the only accepted means of identification required for members to transact business with SSNIT, starting January 2022,” he pointed out.

By this arrangement, new SSNIT members must provide their Ghana Card numbers to enroll onto the SSNIT Scheme, whereas employers and the self-employed can only pay contributions using the NIA numbers.

At the same time, members of SSNIT will also be required to provide their Ghana Card numbers to access their statements of account, while pensioners aged 72 years and above will be required to renew their Pensioners’ Certificates using the Ghana Card.

5,344 employers default in paying SSNIT

5,344 employers have defaulted in honouring their SSNIT obligation since the beginning of the year. They are therefore facing prosecution.

The Director General urged all employers to settle their SSNIT contributions of time, adding, “we take no delight in prosecuting employers. Our expectation is for every employer to pay contributions on time, but when they fail to pay, even after protracted periods of engagement and negotiation, then we have no choice but to prosecute”

Last year, GH¢3.3billion was paid as benefits. This was made up of over GH¢2.9billion to some 227,000 old age pensioners; GH¢16.3million to some 1,400 invalid pensioners; GH¢10million to 192 emigrants; GH¢273.7million to some 24,000 survivors and GH¢51.8million in lump-sums and other payments.