GMA unhappy with gov’t handling of Tier 2 Pension of members

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has expressed its displeasure at the manner the government had handled the Tier 2 pensions of its members.

The Association said some of its members who were covered by the Pensions Act 2008 would be retiring in January next year but they did not have any idea where to process and claim their Tier 2 Pension benefits or how much had accrued to them.

The GMA expressed its displeasure in a communiqué issued at the end of its 56th Annual General Conference under the theme "10 Years of Post-Graduate Medical Education in Ghana-Achievements, Challenges and the Way Forward".

Dr Kwabens Opoku Adusei, the President of the GMA and Dr Frank Serebour, the General Secretary, signed the communiqué which was read by Dr Adusei at a press conference at Takoradi.

The Association said it had numerous meetings with the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, the Ministry of Finance and the Presidency but the meetings yielded no meaningful results.

It appealed to the government and the NPRA to, as a matter of urgency, "Ensure the full operationalization of the Health Service Occupational Pension Scheme (HSOPS) and stop imposing Pension Alliance Trust (PAT) or any other scheme on the membership of the GMA".

The communiqué said "Propaganda, half-truths and at times outright lies and name calling will never win the way, it will retard the progress of the nation.”

It said the Association would take the Tier 2 Pension saga to its logical conclusion despite the machination by government and it would support every decision that will be taken at the Forum of Public Sector Occupational Pension Scheme.

The Association drew the attention of the government to the fact that members of the association working with the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service were working without conditions of service.

It said it intended to pursue this agenda and ensure that all affected members had conditions of service before June 30 next year.

The Association said if by that date condition of service had not been negotiated and signed the affected doctors "Will consider themselves unemployed."

It said it would continue to support the government to educate the people on Ebola and added that there was low level of alertness by the public to the reality and vulnerability of the country with regards to the disease.

The Association pledged to continue supporting the government to educate the people about the disease and called on government and other stakeholders to continue with their education drive on the disease to heighten and sustain public awareness.

It said Ghana should not relent in its support to countries affected by the disease and added that Ghana should say no to AFCON 2015.

The Association said the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons had made immense contribution towards the improvement of health care in the country.

It said admissions to the College must be streamlined and based strictly on merit.

The Association appealed to the College to ensure that training programmes met and exceed regional standards and matched international standards.