Source: newsthemegh.com
According to Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the Trust was able to recover GH154 million from the prosecution of companies who refused to pay their employees’ payments in the first half of 2023.
He advised businesses to make SSNIT contributions on time in order to avoid prosecution, which he claimed was frequently the Trust’s last resort.
According to the SSNIT statute, it is the employer’s responsibility to make sure that SSNIT payments are sent to SSNIT. Employers wouldn’t need to be pursued by compliance authorities if they followed these instructions carefully.
However, some employers fail to remit their contributions to SSNIT because of a miscommunication or outright wickedness.
“We are left with no alternative except to sue reluctant employers that refuse to make contributions despite repeated requests. We were able to recover GH154 million as a result of some of these cases in the first half of the year.
Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang claims that based on the data and predictions currently available, the Trust is on schedule to achieve its goals by the end of the year.
Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang stated in a press conference held on the sidelines of the 2023 SSNIT Employers Breakfast Meeting in Koforidua that SSNIT is expanding its coverage to include individuals working in the unorganized sector.
“Our goal and objective is to ensure that we do not miss any pension payments to people who rely on us as their only source of income for their livelihood. We want to expand, and that is why we are going out there to do the tough work and convince the self-employed to join SSNIT.”
“We want the self-employed to know that SSNIT is a better retirement plan to join if they want to ensure a better and more comfortable retirement. The highest-paid SSNIT pensioner was a self-employed person who was not an employee of anyone and used to earn GH¢100,000 a month.”