Self-employed workers in the informal sector can now insure their incomes against old age or permanent invalidity as the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has launched a new product to include them in the pension scheme.
In a campaign dubbed SEED (Self Employed Enrolment Drive), SSNIT is urging all informal sector workers, particularly the self-employed, to take advantage of its pension scheme by making contributions from their incomes in order to guarantee future earnings and retire with dignity.
According to the Director-General of SSNIT, Dr. John Ofori Tenkorang, the scheme is for all Ghanaian workers irrespective of the sector one finds themselves. He thus admonished people to erase the false belief that the scheme is meant for only workers on government payroll or people working in white-collar jobs.
Dr. Tenkorang said the days of depending on children during old age are over due to the changing dynamics of the society. And therefore, challenged self-employed workers to join the SSNIT scheme which has so many benefits to offer when they become old, permanently incapacitated or die before retirement.
The SEED product will provide subscribers with monthly pension allowance during old age or “permanent invalidity pension” where one can no longer work as a result of injury, he said. In addition, subscribers to the scheme will enjoy life insurance while they are alive, as well as benefit premium free National Health Insurance services just as the formal sector employees are benefiting.
The Director-General said the only difference between the SEED and the original SSNIT scheme is that participation of self-employed workers is voluntary whereas it is mandatory for workers in the formal sector to join the scheme. He explained that SSNIT will not force self-employed workers to pay the monthly where they are unable to do so.
He was however quick to add that, for one to enjoy the full pension at old age, they must make premium payments for at least fifteen years or 180 months by the time they turned 60 years, indicating it is therefore in the best interest of subscribers to make regular premium payments.
Dr. Tenkorang explained that the advent of technology has made it easy for people to join and make contributions to SSNIT pension scheme with little or no difficulty. He said one does not have to go to the bank or SSNIT office to be able to make contributions. According to him, the availability of mobile money and other electronic payment platforms present an opportunity for self-employed to enroll on the scheme and make contributions at ease.
He assured the informal sector workers who are yet to join the scheme that “SSNIT has changed” and does not waste time in processing claims for people. He said it takes an average of ten days to process pension for retired workers.
The Director-General further advised prospective subscribers “not to buy into the false narrative” that SSNIT does not pay enough benefits, explaining that “the SSNIT scheme is not an investment scheme, it is an insurance scheme” where one’s salary is insured for future benefits. He thus indicated that the amount one receives during old age depends on the contribution they make during their working days.
The Director-General of SSNIT was speaking to the media at the sidelines of a forum jointly organized by SSNIT and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Wa to sensitize self-employed workers about the SEED product. The forum was attended by various informal workers, including tailors and dressmakers, plumbers, drivers, farmers, traders, food vendors, mechanics, beauticians and hairdressers, and many others.
