Mr. Michael Addo, Deputy Director General in Charge of Finance and Administration of the Social Security and National Insurance Scheme (SSNIT), has rated the scheme as the most credible in the country and beyond.

He claimed that the SSNIT system is now the only one that offers protection against loss of income, disability, and coverage for survivors without requiring additional premium payments.

He made the statements during the launch of ‘Y3 WO ABON TEN’ (Market Storm), an effort aimed at raising awareness of the Self-Employed Enrolment Drive (SEED), which was recently implemented to extend pension coverage to the self-employed and workers in the informal sector.

SSNIT, he claims, is the only insurance programme that rewards contributors with lifelong benefits.

He described the trust as a public agency tasked with providing pension coverage to every eligible worker in Ghana.

He said that the scheme is the only one that pays an old age pension every month to every retired member who is 55 years old or older and has contributed for a minimum of 180 months or 15 years.

He stated that the pension is paid on the third Thursday of every month, with annual increases until death. There is no such scheme in Ghana.

Mr. Michael Addo posited that the SSNIT Pension provides better value than members’ payments plus interest.

“So, if you invest whatever you pay as monthly SSNIT contributions in some secure investment like the Treasury Bill, what it will pay you throughout your retirement far exceeds the investment you made plus accrued interest.”

The scheme also pays an invalidity pension for life regardless of age, with as little as 12 months’ contributions within the last three years before a member becomes incapable of working again.

So if you think age 60 is far off, know that permanent invalidity can happen at any point in our lives.”

In light of this, he has encouraged self-employed people in Ghana to register so that they will benefit when they retire from active labour or become incapacitated.

SEED was launched by SSNIT to help redefine social security and give hope to self-employed people so that they can also retire in dignity and comfort and reduce overdependency on family and friends.

He explained that SSNIT took a bold step by rolling out the SEED to address this challenge and reduce the burden placed on people in active service to take care of their elderly parents.

He stressed that “our quest is to ensure that self-employed workers also remain financially independent even during their old age or when they are unable to work again due to permanent invalidity.

With a contribution of 11% of income from self-employed, they are guaranteed up to a maximum of 60% of the average of your three best annual incomes, depending on the number of years you have contributed.

“Every self-employed worker in the formal or informal sector, whether you are a trader or a lawyer, a commissioned income earner or an artisan – the Scheme is for you. Make it a priority to register, contribute, and retire comfortably tomorrow. All it takes is you must be between the ages of 15 and 45 years to be eligible. And remember, the longer your contribution period, the better your pension. It is, therefore, in your interest to start contributing early.”