Day: June 18, 2021

Accra, – The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) last year paid 3.3 billion Ghana Cedis as benefits to more than 250,000 of its members and their survivors.

This was made up of more than GH¢2.9 billion to some 227,000 old age pensioners, GH¢16.3 million to some 1400 invalid pensioners, GH¢10 million to 192 emigrants and GH¢273.7 million to some 24,000 survivors and GH¢51.8 million in lump sums and other payments.

Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, Director-General of SSNIT, announced this in Accra, at a meeting with stakeholders to sensitise them on the merger of SSNIT numbers with the National Identification Authority (NIA) numbers of Members of the Scheme.

The merger is expected to improve the ease of doing business with the Trust by enabling a convenient means to allow members to use one card, that is the Ghana Card, for all transactions.

It is also in compliance with Regulation 7 (1) of the National Identity Register Regulations, 2012, L.I. 2111 and a directive from the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA).

The regulation, among other things, requires the use of the Ghana Card as a means of identification for “transactions pertaining to individuals in respect of pensions”.

Dr Ofori-Tenkorang expressed the commitment of Trust to serve the needs of its members, saying, “We may not be a perfect institution, but our commitment to you is that we will always pay the benefits due you without fail. And if we are able to discharge this obligation within an atmosphere of world class service delivery, it will be the icing on the cake.”

The Trust is entrusted with the provision of social protection for the working population for various contingencies including old age, invalidity and death” (Act 766, section 34(d)).

On the merger of the SSNIT card with the NIA card, the Director-General said the Trust would create avenues for people to have it done on their phones by dialling a short code or USSD and also the SSNIT website.

However, those who could not use any of those methods could walk in to any SSNIT office to be assisted to merge their numbers.

“The plan is that from 2022, the Ghana Card will be the only accepted means of identification required for Members to transact business with SSNIT and we believe that with your support and partnership, we can definitely achieve this goal,” Dr Ofori-Tenkorang said.

“After the merger is done, I am optimistic it will bring down further the average 10 working days it takes for SSNIT to process and pay benefits to retirees.”

From July 2021, new applicants of the Scheme, he said, would be required to have Ghana Card to join it.

The Trust, the Director-General said, had outlined a number of stakeholder engagements in the course of the year to ensure continuous dialogue with stakeholders and the strengthening of their partnerships.

The Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, commended the Management of SSNIT for bringing together players in the pension industry to engage on the merger to ensure a smooth transition.

He noted that such a tripartite approach was the way institutions should go in promoting industrial harmony.

“When organisations engage stakeholders before the introduction of new programmes or initiatives, it reduces anxiety and suspicion from them,” he stated. “This is, particularly, important in circumstances where the relationship between employers, labour and SSNIT has not always been exactly cordial.”

The General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Dr Anthony Yaw Baah commended Dr Ofori-Tenkorang for the level of openness and inclusiveness with which he was managing the Scheme.

He assured SSNIT Management of his side’s readiness to partner SSNIT to enrol members of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and other informal sector worker groups onto the SSNIT Pension Scheme.

The meeting was attended by Chairperson of Parliamentary Select Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises, Mr Philip Basoah, Chief Executive Officer of National Pensions Regulatory Authority, Mr. Hayford Atta Krufi, Executive Secretary, among others.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Secondi-Takoradi, – Mr John-Peter Amewu, Minister of Railways Development, has assured the 674 workers of the Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL), who were retrenched in 2002 that their salaries will be paid.

“I sympathize with the past workers. I understand over 600 of them were retrenched in the year 2002 and are currently sitting at home without salaries,” Mr Amewu stated in his address at a durbar of railway workers in Secondi-Takoradi during his two-day tour of the Western Region.

“I feel I can’t do that. If I have to work and I have to go home and sit down without what I have worked for; it isn’t worth sacrificing for this nation.”

Mr Amewu noted that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had directed that the retrenched railway workers be paid their salaries, adding that the “President will not say this without living according to his word”.

Mr Amewu said having taken the seat as a new Minister, one of the first objectives and pressing issues which was on his desk was to make sure that those 674 workers were paid as quickly as possible.

“We will do everything possible to make sure that they are paid. What is disheartening is that some of them have even already passed away, this could not be accepted. So, I sympathize with you,” Mr Amewu stated.

The Minister expressed gratitude to the railway workers for their sacrifices and contributions over the years towards Ghana’s socio-economic development.

“Railway workers have played their roles in terms of the economic growth of this country, there is no doubt about it,” he said.

“You have done what other people cannot do; you have sacrificed yourself within the limited resources to achieve what is there for everybody to see.”

He said, he believed in theory that if certain resources were available and the infrastructure was put in place, Ghana railway workers would be one of the most enviable institution in the country.

Regarding the issue of salaries of GRCL workers, the Minister said it was true that their salaries currently was one of the lowest in the country, saying, “there are reasons why this is so, but I think there is a way that we can go around this”.

He said under the current administration, President Akufo-Addo had put a deal of great attention on the railway sector.

He said within the past four years the amount of money the Government invested in railway infrastructure development was more than all money put together during the previous 16 years if one combines Presidents: John Agyekum Kufuor, John Attah Mills and John Mahama’s regimes to what Nana Addo had done.

“We expect that if we put this infrastructure in place, like we are doing in the Western Railway Line right now from Takoradi to Kumasi and branch to Nyinahini and Awaso, the sector would open up and there would be job opportunities for the people.

He said using the railways for freight transportation such as the haulage of bauxite from Awaso and Nyinahini, would enable the GRCL to generate more revenues.

“If you are able to haul at least five million metric tonnes within a year, do you know the revenue that will come to you? The Ghana Government will come and borrow from you people. And that is what we must do. And that is the area we are looking at.” Mr Amewu said.

“So, to pave the way to make sure that your salaries and your living conditions improve, we must begin to revamp the industry. A dying industry without any incentive for revenue cannot continue to exist on its own,” he said.

He said, “if I instruct the GRCL Managing Director (MD) to triple the salaries of all the railway workers; the MD could not be able to do so” because the money for the payment was supposed to come from their internally generated revenue.

The Minister noted that the MD could not do it because the infrastructure that would generate the revenue was not available.

This, he said, was the reason the Government was quickly putting down the railways infrastructure to generate revenue and start paying the workers.

“That withstanding, it doesn’t means that we should not make an effort within the current circumstances to increase the little that you are taking,” Mr Amewu said.

Mr Goodwill Ntarmah, General Secretary, Ghana Railway Workers Union, called for a review of the Railway Act, (Act 779), which placed all assets hitherto under the care of GRCL to the Ghana Railway Development Authority.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Bolgatanga, – Leaders of basket and hats weavers associations in Bolgatanga, are undergoing a second phase training to equip them with skills to register the Geographical Indications (GIs) of their products.

The training was via a virtual session and organized by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Justice.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Dr Gervase Kuuwaabong, the Coordinator for Swiss- Ghana Intellectual Property Project, said the initial training was to mobilize and introduce producers to the idea of GIs.

He said the producers showed interest after the training and took the decision to get their products registered.

“So the second phase is to help them define their products and their uniqueness to consumers, which is key to the concept of GIs,” he indicated.

Dr Kuuwaabong said the ongoing training would also see to it that, producers established active producer-organizations as well as a common code of practice to govern the production of their goods.

Geographical Indication is a sign or name used on products that have a specific geographical origin, and possess qualities owing to that origin.

It provides legal protection and enforcement of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) of producers and also safeguards consumers from substandard goods.

Geographical indications are generally applied to traditional products, produced by marginal communities over generations, and have gained a reputation at local, national, or international markets due to their specific unique qualities.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Takoradi, – Mr. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister has described the Region as a critical corridor for migrants.

The Western Region also remained key partner for receiving and returning in partnership with agencies such as International Organisation for Migration and contributing significantly to remittances.

The Regional Minister, who was speaking during the Zeepay International Day of Family Remittance marked in Takoradi acknowledged the intervention of the government on digitalisation of payments in Ghana.

According to him, last year, Ghana received about USD 3.5 billion in remittances, representing over 23 million transactions of which about 3.5 million represented digital transactions directly to mobile wallets alone.

He highlighted successes chalked through the passing of Payment Systems and Services Act 2019 by President Akufo-Addo’ administration.

Mr Darko-Mensah said, out of the ACT emerged other directives such as the Remittance Guidelines and Crowd funding which were all designed to make the life of the Diasporan and their families easy and simple.

He said the government had taken bold steps to support all initiatives and the creation of the Western Corridor into “Fintech Enclave” with the objective of encouraging young returning migrants to articulate their own future by leveraging on the technology with the fourth industrial revolution.

The Regional Minister added that digitalisation was high on government’s agenda. “Our youth digitalisation programme termed ICODE has optimized business and entrepreneurial potentials of the youth in the Western Region.”

Source: Ghana News Agency

Tema, – The Clerk of the Ga Presbytery, the Reverend Solomon Nii Mensah Adjei has advised all members of the Church to get involved in the ongoing tree planting exercise as part of their Christian witness.

As part of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana’s ecological integrity campaign, with the aim of greening Ghana tree planting, the Ga Presbytery has earmarked on planting about 40,000 trees within Ga Presbytery and beyond.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Tema(GNA), Rev. Adjei said, the idea of the Church was to plant one million trees, but beyond that he sees it also as part of our Christian witness or calling.

He added that, God after creating the Garden of Eden, entrusted it to man to take care of it but now the activities of man had destroyed the environment and so this exercise was a wake-up call for all of us to be part of the tree planting

“When we treat the environment well, we will be well, sickness and diseases may go away,” he said.

He noted that, the church has mounted a campaign to sensitize every member to plant a tree adding that the exercise aimed at planting more to sustain the ecological campaign in the country.

Rev Adjei said, the Presbytery has a monitoring team put in place which would first monitor, nurture and water the number of trees planted in other to ensure it survival and a committee to take records and stocks from all the districts.

The programme was graced by dignitaries from the Presbytery which included; the Rev. Ebenezer Akrong, District Minister Community one; Rev. Lawrence Kwesi Tete, Director of Ecumenical and Social Relations; Mrs Naana Osae Omaboe, District Lay Rep; and the Headmistress of the Tema Presbyterian Senior High School.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, – Two persons, who allegedly robbed a commercial motor rider of his motorcycle and mobile phone at Dansoman in Accra, have been remanded into Police custody by an Accra Circuit Court.

Mawuli Amegbo, a drinking bar operator and Sulley Mohammed, a plumber, charged with conspiracy to commit crime to wit robbery and robbery, pleaded not guilty.

The Court, presided over by Mrs. Evelyn Asamoah, held that due to the facts and nature of the case, the accused persons be remanded into Police custody to reappear on June 29.

Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Emmanuel Haligah, narrated that the complainant, Daniel Attoh is a motor rider residing at Chorkor.

He said Amegbo resides at Zambrama Line, Accra, whilst Mohammed lives at Russia, Accra.

Chief Inspector Haligah said two other accomplices, namely Jalo and another are at large.

He said on June 13, this year, Mr Attoh was riding his Royal 325 Motorcycle with registration number M-21-GW 490 valued at GHC4, 500 and at around 1900 hours same day, one of the suspects at large engaged the complainant to take him on his motor bike from Korle Bu to Dansoman.

The Police said on reaching Tonga, a suburb of Dansoman, the accused and one Jalo, who were all on one motorbike suddenly crossed the complainant with their motor bike forcing the complainant to stop.

The Prosecution said one of the suspects, the pillion rider on the complainant’s motorcycle, held the complainant’s neck in his bid to strangle him but in the process, they both fell.

Mr Haligah said the accused person then rushed on the complainant and Amegbo who was armed with a cutlass threatened the complainant to surrender his motorcycle.

The prosecution said the complainant fearing for his life, surrendered the bike with his infinix hot eight mobile phone.

The Prosecution said the accused persons, however, could not start the complainant’s motorcycle.

The prosecution said the complainant raised an alarm leading to their arrest.

He said, however, Jalo escaped and the two who were grabbed were handed over to a police patrol team and an official complainant made at the Police station.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, – Policy research and advocacy organization, SEND Ghana, has commended Government for paying two-cycle cash grants it owed beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP).

The 71st and 72nd cycles cash

payment, which was due in March and May 2021, respectively delayed, causing considerable disquiet among beneficiaries as their livelihoods had been disrupted and worsened by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

SEND Ghana, in press statement issued on May 5, 2021, drew the government’s attention to the growing concerns among the public, including LEAP beneficiaries on the implications of the delayed payments and, thus, called for its urgent intervention.

The Organisation, in a statement issued and signed by Dr Emmanuel Ayifah, Country Director, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, lauded the Government for heeding the call.

“We wish to applaud the government and the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection for heeding the call of the poor and vulnerable people who count on LEAP cash grants to address their basic needs,” the statement said.

Evidence suggests that LEAP is contributing to reducing extreme poverty among beneficiary households and facilitating beneficiaries’ access to complementary services, such as health.

That notwithstanding, the statement explained that delays and irregularities in payments presented a potential setback in derailing the country’s progress towards eradicating poverty and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

It emphasised that social protection was the right of citizens as enshrined in the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution, therefore, government’s effort at fulfilling such rights must be seen as a constitutional obligation and should be given utmost priority.

“Whilst commending the government for paying the two-cycle grants, we urge them to keep to their promise of releasing funds in a timely fashion for the bi-monthly LEAP payments to ensure that No One Is Left Behind.

“We hope that such delays would not be repeated in subsequent payment cycles,” the statement added.

LEAP is a cash transfer programme introduced by the Government of Ghana (GOG) in 2008, for extremely poor and vulnerable households with the aim of reducing poverty by increasing and smoothening consumption and promoting access to services and opportunities among the extremely poor and vulnerable.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Komenda (C/R), – Nana Kojo Kru II, the Chief of Komenda, has appealed to the Government to rehabilitate the road networks in the area to make transportation of people and goods to other human settlements less cumbersome.

He said the deplorable nature of the roads in the area, was not only making living conditions difficult for the people, but had also become a haven for armed robbers and other criminals.

Nana Kru II, made the appeal when the Central Regional Minister, Mrs Justina Marigold Assan called on him and the Traditional Council as part of a day’s tour to the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality to officially introduce herself to the chiefs and solicit their support to transform the Region.

He said most people in the area were becoming disillusioned and frustrated by the numerous promises from politicians.

Nana Kru commended the government for initiating a landing bay as well as sea defence project for the area, but called on it, to revive the defunct Komenda Sugar Factory to reduce the unemployment and crime rates in the Town and its surrounding communities.

He called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Forestry Commission (FC) to ensure that the forest reserves in the Municipality were protected as some perpetrators had started cutting down the trees for their own selfish gains.

Responding to the Chief’s appeal, Mrs Assan assured that the government was working tirelessly to revamp the factory to boost the economy and enhance the standard of living of the people.

She said, the factory had been given to investors and the necessary approaches being facilitated to bring the Factory back to life.

The Minister and his entourage also visited all the three paramouncies in KEEA, the Edina, Abrem and Eguafo Traditional Councils where she formally introduced herself as the new Regional Minister and interacted with them on the way forward to transform the Region.

Mrs Assan said the revival of the factory remained key to Government’s broader objective of creating a congenial business environment to attract, retain and create sustainable direct and indirect jobs for the youth of the area.

The Minister also addressed a durbar of Assembly members and staff of the KEEA where she admonished all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDCE’s) to re-dedicate themselves to working to promote the welfare of the people.

She said Assemblies were clothed with authority to initiate programmes and development policies and to deal with issues affecting development in their localities.

Mrs Assan urged them to move from their comfort zones of relying on Government’s limited subventions and find innovative ways to bring increased and sustained development to the people.

To remedy the insanitary conditions in their localities, she tasked the Assemblies to prioritise sanitation and embolden the sanitation inspection division to enforce strict environmental cleanliness practices to improve public health.

Mr Appiah Korang, Acting Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), expressed his readiness to partner the private sector and other stakeholders to propel the growth of the area to make KEEA a model municipality.

Source: Ghana News Agency