How I wish I was a lawyer who could file and argue cases in court, I will have sued the Board of Trustees of the Social Security and Naitonal Insurance Trust (SSNIT) on behalf of social security contributors and pensioners.  

My statement of claim in my layman’s language will be as follows. 

Claim Number 1: An order from the court to compel SSNIT to fully disclose to contributors and pensioners the reasons for the disposal of SSNIT’s majority interest in Merchant Bank; the criteria for the selection of a buyer for SSNIT’s interest; the bidding process; the details of the bids submitted; the bid evaluation report by the transaction advisor, KPMG; minutes of the SSNIT Board meeting that decided to sell Merchant Bank to Fortiz. 

If upon full disclosure of the transaction, it was established that the deal was a bad one for SSNIT contributors and pensioners, I will make the following additional claims. 

Claim Number 2: An order by the court to cancel the sale. 

Claim Number 3: An order by the court to dismiss the entire Board of Trustees.  

Claim Number 4: An order by the court to ban each member of the Board of Trustees from holding office as a member of the Board of Directors of a public company or public institution for 20 years. 

WHO ARE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF SSNIT? 

SSNIT is regulated by the National Pensions Act, 2008 Act 766. The Act requires SSNIT to have a 13-member Board of Trustees made of the following.

• A chairperson

• Two persons nominated by the President, at least one of whom is a woman

• Two representatives of Employers’ Associations

• Four representatives of Organised Labour

• One representative of National Pensioners’ Association

• One representative of the Ministry responsible for Finance not below the rank of a Director

• One representative of the Security Services who is not a member of the Ghana Armed Forces, and

• The Director-General of the Trust 

The Act also requires that the President of Ghana appoints the Board. However in reality the President controls the appointments of only six (6) out of the thirteen (13) members - the Chairperson, the two (2) persons nominated by him, the two (2) persons representing the Ministry of Finance and Security Services, and the Director General.  

The President does not decide who should be the representatives of organized labour, employers and pensioners on the SSNIT Board. The President only endorses the names that are presented by these stakeholders.

Hence the call to the President and Minister of Finance to either halt or explain the sale of Merchant Bank to Fortiz is completely misplaced. Any questions on the transaction should be directed to the 13 persons who constitute the SSNIT Board.  

From SSNIT’s website the current Board of Trustees which was sworn into office on 29 July 2013 comprises. 

1. Professor Joshua Alabi, Chairman, Government Representative

2. Col. James Adamu Koto (Rtd), Armed Forces (Security Services)

3. Mr. K.D. Boateng, Government Representative.

4. Naaba Alhaji Mahamadu Asibi Azongo, Organised Labour

5. Mr. Alex Frimpong, Ghana Employers Association

6. Mr. Kwame Amo-Dako, Organised Labour

7. Mr. Terence Ronald Darko, Employers Association

8. Hon. Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, Government Representative 

9. Mrs. Regina Atsutsey, Government Representative

10. Mr. Prince William Ankrah, Organised Labour

11. Mr. Kofi Asamoah, Representative of Organised Labour

12. Mr. Theodore Nee-Okpey, National Pensioners Association

13. Mr. Ernest Thompson, Director-General, SSNIT 

THE REPRESENTATIVES OF ORGANIZED LABOUR, EMPLOYERS AND PENSIONERS ON THE SSNIT BOARD MAY BE SLEEPING ON THE JOB  

SSNIT-money does not belong to government. It is workers' money. So the Board has always had majority representation from organized labour, employers and pensioners. Yet SSNIT has over the years been used by every government as a piggy bank to facilitate the business dealings of people connected closely with the ruling party. 

Some of these investments have earned paltry returns. Others have gone bad with huge losses to SSNIT.  

Every Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has been on the Board of SSNIT. Kofi Asamoah, the current TUC Secretary General who has been in the forefront of labour agitations in recent times has been a SSNIT Trustee since 2009.  

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) which is the single largest organized labour group in the country has always nominated someone to serve on SSNIT’s Board. Its current representative, Kwame Amo-Dako, a former GNAT President, has been a SSNIT Trustee since 2009. 

Terence Ronald Darko, Managing Director of Mechanical Lloyd and President of the Ghana Employers Association has been a SSNIT Trustee since 2009. 

Alex Frimpong is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Employers Association. He was appointed a SSNIT Trustee this year. 

Prince William Ankrah is the General Secretary of the Ghana Mine Workers Union. He was appointed a SSNIT Trustee this year. Naaba Asibi Azongo became a SSNIT Trustee this year. I do not know which organized labour group he represents. 

Theodore Nee-Okpey representing the National Pensioners Association became a SSNIT Trustee this year. 

I expect a lot from the above seven persons. I expect less from the six government representatives because of the reality that they are vulnerable and likely to succumb to the wishes of their political patrons who nominated and appointed them. After all that is where their bread is buttered. 

THE SSNIT BOARD IS ACCOUNTABLE TO CONTRIBUTORS AND PENSIONERS 

Act 766 says that “The Board of Trustees shall ensure the proper performance of the functions of the Trust” which among others includes “the provision of social protection for the working population for various contingencies including old age, invalidity and death”. 

There is something in a name so the SSNIT Board is called “Trustees”, not Directors.  

It is a gargantuan responsibility to be a SSNIT Trustee. The decisions these 13 individuals take today affects the post retirement future of millions of workers.  

The Trustees have a fiduciary relationship with SSNIT contributors and pensioners similar to the obligations the Board of Directors of a company has to its shareholders. Like the national pledge, the Trustees promise on their honour to be faithful and loyal to the contributors and pensioners of SSNIT. 

The Trustees are to ensure workers monthly social contributions are invested wisely to yield good returns to pay good pensions.  

The Trustees are not accountable to themselves, government or the various stakeholder groups that nominated them. Instead they are accountable, individually and collectively, to the contributors and pensioners of SSNIT. They are to exercise their judgment in the best interest of these stakeholders and nothing less. 

Act 766 also regulates the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA). It provides in Section 15 that the Minister may give directives to the NPRA Board on matters of policy. There is no such clause relating to SSNIT.  

In 2011 when issues were raised by various interest groups against the sale of TTB to ECOBANK the then Minister of Finance, Kwabena Duffuor issued a public directive to the Board of Trustees to suspend the sale.

The Trustees, then led by Kwame Peprah, a former Finance Minister, ignored the directive and went ahead with the transaction.   

This demonstrates the authority and independence of the Board of Trustees. They can ignore a directive by the Finance Minister who oversees the affairs of SSNIT. Indeed SSNIT is not subject to Ministerial or Presidential directives. It is only subject to the regulatory oversight of the NPRA [National Pensions Regulatory Authority].   

SSNIT AND BANK OF GHANA HAVE DIFFERENT INTERESTS 

SSNIT decides who it sells Merchant Bank to. Bank of Ghana examines whether that buyer has the integrity, technical and financial capacity to run a bank in a manner that protects depositors’ money and the country’s financial system. If Bank of Ghana rejects that buyer it informs SSNIT who in turn looks for another buyer.  

Bank of Ghana conducts its due diligence and approval process in accordance with law and defined procedures. Hence it is perfectly in order for Andy Awuni’s Centre for Freedom and Accuracy to call them to account for their actions. 

However it is not Bank of Ghana’s job to assess whether SSNIT is selling Merchant Bank at a profit or loss. SSNIT on the other hand must ensure that it sells Merchant Bank for the maximum profit or minimum loss possible.  

THE BIG NAMES BEHIND FORTIZ MEAN NOTHING 

Supporters of Fortiz including newspaper columnists and political commentators have argued that because Mr. So and So is behind Fortiz everything is fine.  

One key lesson from the judgement debt, SADA, GYEEDA and SUBAH scandals is that some of our high flying and award winning business people have enough skeletons in their cupboards to fill a grave yard. Accordingly the big names behind Fortiz mean nothing. As they say, it is only when the lizard dies that that you will know its full length.  

CALL TO PUBLIC INTEREST LAWYERS 

My call to public interest lawyers, many of whom are SSNIT contributors, is to sue the Board of Trustees of SSNIT to fully disclose the details of the bids for Merchant Bank and also prove that the Fortiz bid, compared to the others, was the best deal for SSNIT contributors and pensioners.   

The heavy burden of Citizen Vigilante should not be left alone to Andy Awuni and its Godfather, Martin Amidu.