SSNIT Observes Customer Service Week as it Launches Mobile Service Week in Ho

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has observed this year’s Customer Service Week with a launch of its annual Mobile Service Week in Ho in the Volta Region under the theme, “You also deserve a Pension: Join SSNIT today”.

The SSNIT Mobile Service (SMS) Week is an annual event that provides SSNIT branches with the opportunity to pitch camp at various locations across the country to bring the services of the Trust to the doorsteps of its Members and Clients.

The event which is being observed from today, 3rd October 2022 is expected to end on Friday, 7th October 2022, and has a total of sixty-nine (69) vantage locations selected across the sixteen (16) regions of the country to provide services to members and clients to enable them to access the services of the Trust with ease.

Services being offered include the issuance of Statements of Accounts, registration of employers and workers, benefits processing initiation, renewal of Pensioner Certificates, merging of SSNIT and NIA numbers, and general inquiries about the business and operations of SSNIT among other services.

Delivering his keynote address, the Director-General (D-G) of SSNIT, Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, announced that the theme for the occasion was borne out of the Trust’s commitment to ensure that every worker in Ghana receives a decent pension.

He hinted that SMS Week will also provide the Trust with the opportunity to intensify the education of members and the public about their rights and responsibilities under the Scheme as the Trust seeks to sign more Members, especially, self-employed workers onto the Scheme.

He said this year’s SMS also coincides with Customer Service Week which is an international celebration instituted in 1991 and observed in the first week of October.

He said Customer Service Week was observed in the first week of October and the event is celebrated annually across the globe to emphasize the importance of customer service and the people who provide those services.

The celebration, he said, aims at raising awareness of the value of customer service, rewarding employees for the significant work outputs, improving morale in the workplace, and building on teamwork among other reasons.

Dr Ofori-Tenkorang indicated that since the beginning of the year, the Trust had been engaging stakeholders of the Scheme notably, players in the informal sector and self-employed as well as regional and district leaders of Organised Labour.

He mentioned that the engagements formed part of deliberate efforts to extend coverage to the many self-employed workers who do not have any form of social security cover.

He mentioned that there are four (4) types of benefits under the Trust that members can enjoy depending on which contingency has occurred -Superannuation Pension/ Old age Pension, Invalidity Pension, Survivor’s Lump sum, and Emigration benefit.

He stated that a survivor’s lump sum was paid to dependants of members under the conditions such as when the member dies before retirement; or when a pensioner dies before attaining age 75.

Dr Ofori-Tenkorang indicated that to qualify for full Pension under the Trust one must be at least 60 years, and must have made a minimum contribution of 180 months (15 years) under Act 766 and 240 months (20 years) under PNDCL 247.

To qualify for an Old Age pension, the member must be at least 60 years and must have contributed a minimum of 180 months (15 years) under Act 766 and 240 months (20 years) under PNDCL 247.

The member who is 55 years but below 60 years receives a reduced pension whilst the 60-year-old gets a full pension.

Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa commended the Management of SSNIT for leveraging technology to make the services of the Trust more accessible to members and clients.

“Technology has allowed for the reduction of administrative costs associated with printing of SSNIT Cards and reduced the time pensioners have to wait to collect their first pension as they can now payment within a maximum of two weeks after submitting their application”, he stated.

He bemoaned the situation where the majority of Ghanaians especially those in the informal sector have not registered with the Trust and are being denied the benefits it offers to people who retired from active service.

He, therefore, implored members of the informal sector to consider enrolling themselves and their employees in the trust to take advantage of the benefits it offers.