Government, through the Ministry of Communications, has refuted claims that Pension Alliance Trust, a Trustee selected by government to manage workers' pension funds, was imposed on the workers.
Sector Minister, Dr. Omane Boamah, told newsmen at a press conference on Monday that the selection of Pension Alliance Trust to administer the second tier pension contribution by public workers in the country was not a unilateral decision taken by government.
According to him, Pension Alliance Trust was chosen after the company duly met all the requirements stipulated by the Pension Committee.
It was therefore mandated by the Committee to serve as the Corporate Trustee for public sector pensions in October 2012 after careful scrutiny.
�The implementation of the 3-tier scheme started in January 2010 where employers paid the contributions of their employees under tiers 1 and 2. In September 2012, government set up the Pension Committee whose membership included the Heads of Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service, Head of Civil Service and Head of Local Government Services. The intention of government in its composition of the membership of the pensions Committee was to ensure that all employees in their various unions are well represented through the Heads of these public services.
�Their ICT infrastructure was considered excellent. Data management, disaster recovery plan, reliability of software systems and fund management expertise were also regarded as the best by the Committee,� the Communications Minister explained.
Dr. Omane Boamah also sought to clarify the erroneous impression that Pension Alliance Trust is not a reliable Trustee and also disabused the minds of Ghanaians and the striking workers of any misconceptions.
Five Trustee companies �Enterprise Trustee Limited, Provident Life Trust Company, Universal Pensions Master Trust Limited, GLICO Pension Trustee Limited and Pensions Alliance Trust Limited� were shortlisted for the bid to manage the pensions but the committee finally settled on Pension Alliance Trust, the Minister said.
�All five Trustee companies were then given the opportunity to make presentations to the committee, after which Pensions Alliance Trust Limited (herein after, I�m going to refer it to as the selected Trustee) was recommended for appointment. It is understood that the selected Trustee (that is Pension Alliance Trust) was the most responsive to the agreed criteria established.�
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com
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