The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) will from 1 September 2021 delete the names of pensioners, aged 72 and above, who fail to complete or renew their pensioner certificates.
The move according to SSNIT is to ensure payments are made to the right persons.
The accounts of such pensioners, it says will only be reactivated when they renew their pensioner certificates.
A statement issued by SSNIT said defaulters have up to 30 August 2021 to visit any of their branches to complete their pensioners’ certificates to avoid being deleted from the payroll.
“Currently, there are some 13,451 pensioners, 72 years and above, who receive a monthly pension, but are yet to complete or renew their Pensioner Certificates,” the statement said.
“Pensioners visiting a SSNIT office for the Pensioner Certificate renewal are strongly encouraged to carry along their Ghana Cards to have their SSNIT and NIA numbers merged if they have not done so already,” the statement added.
Since 2018, SSNIT has on a monthly basis, been deleting the names of pensioners aged 72 and above who fail to complete or renew their Pensioner Certificates. This was however halted in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
SSNIT pensioner certificate
Pensioner certificates are issued to pensioners, aged 72 who retired under PNDCL 247 and 75 years for those who retired under Act 766 and renewed annually.
This is a mechanism put in place by SSNIT to ensure that pension is paid to only retirees who are alive.
Pensioners who fail to renew their pensioner certificates will be deemed to be deceased and their names consequently deleted from the pensioners’ payroll.
As of the beginning of the year, the Trust has saved about GHC144 million from the deactivation of accounts of 11,478 pensioners since 2018.
In June 2021 alone, the SSNIT pension scheme paid 231,316 pensioners over GHC250 million.
The highest-paid pensioner receives GHC129,979 each month whilst the lowest-earning pensioner is paid GHC300.00.
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