Akufo-Addo, SSNIT boss provide conflicting data on self-employed enrolled on pension scheme

There is a disparity in the data provided by government officials on pension coverage among self-employed individuals in Ghana.

On February 20, 2024, Director-General of SSNIT, Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, said the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has enrolled over 71,000 informal sector and self-employed persons onto the state-run Tier One pension scheme.

When he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament in Accra to respond to some infractions contained in the Auditor-General’s report on the fund, he said the significant increase of contributors from 14,200 to 71,000 as of May last year followed the implementation of a self-employed enrolment drive (SEED) initiative.

“The initiative has made it possible for artisans, carpenters, masons, tailors, auto-mechanics and traders to contribute towards their pension. SSNIT has targeted to enrol about 10 per cent of the 3.6 million self-employed Ghanaians who are yet to join the scheme although they fall within the required contributors age of 15 and 45,” he said.

But a week later, President Akufo-Addo provided a figure which is 529,000 less than what was communicated by Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang.

Presenting the State of the Nation Address (SONA) before Parliament in Accra on Tuesday, February 27, he said that since the launch of the Self-Employed Enrolment Drive (SEED) initiative by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), some 600,000 self-employed persons have been enrolled on the programme.

“Mr Speaker, in speaking about the work space and jobs, our thoughts invariably turn to young people and for some people, to the formal sector and formal sector jobs. We often forget that formal sector employees form only a small part of the working population. This small percentage of the working population tends to be the ones that are covered by pension schemes and, unfortunately, the majority of workers in the country do not have any pensions.

“To that extent, in May last year, SSNIT launched the Self-Employed Enrolment Drive (SEED), an initiative which seeks to improve coverage and increase the contributor base of the SSNIT Scheme. Since the launch of the SEED initiative, some six hundred thousand (600,000) self- employed persons have been enrolled onto the programme, and now have some form of social security cover.”

The contradictory figures provided have left many Ghanaians pondering whether or not SSNIT can enroll 529,000 individuals in a week. Also, many are eager to find out which figure is indeed correct and which was fabricated.