General Secretary of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) Augustine Saakuur-Karbo, has confirmed receipt of the union’s share of over GH¢3 billion tier-2 pension funds paid by the government from the Temporary Pensions Fund Account (TPFA).

Earlier publication suggested that only 11 labour unions had received their tier-2 pension funds paid by the government but Mr Saakuur-Karbo told JoyBusiness, TEWU has also received their funds citing miscommunication in the earlier publication. 

There were earlier concerns by some members of TEWU that the release of the funds to the labour unions did not make provision for them.

Deadline

Twelve labour unions have since 2013 been agitating for the release of their pension contributions locked up in the TPFA at the Bank of Ghana.

The Forum for Public Sector Registered Pension Schemes gave the government up to July 31, 2017, to resolve all outstanding issues concerning the deduction and investment of the tier-two pension scheme or face its wrath.

It accused the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) of failing to inform the government about the accurate indebtedness to the various schemes as per the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766) as amended by the National Pensions Act, 2014 (Act 883).

President Akufo-Addo during a media encounter to mark his one year in office said, “we have been able to transfer some GH¢3.1 billion of Tier 2 pension funds into the custodial accounts of the pension schemes of the labour unions, funds that have been outstanding for six years, and about which the labour unions had been loudly complaining.”