Gov’t Pays Tier 2 Pensions To Unions

Government has announced it has transferred GH¢3.1 billion into the custodial accounts of pension schemes belonging to some 12 labour unions under the Tier II Pension Funds.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who disclosed this recently to the media at the Flagstaff House in Accra, said the funds had been in arrears over the past six years.

These were held at the Bank of Ghana since 2010.

Tier 2 is a mandatory contributory scheme with monthly contributions of 5 percent on the basic salary of all employees.

It is a defined contribution scheme whose contributions are fully tax exempt and privately managed by National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA)’s licensed service providers.

The unions include the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSSAG), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana Physician Assistants Association (GPAA), Government Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA), and Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anaesthetists (GACRA).

The rest are Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), Textile Garments and Leather Employees Union (TGLEU and Health Service Workers’ Union (HSWU).

Road contractors

President Akufo-Addo also noted that last year, his administration paid nearly GH¢1 billion to road contractors, comprising a government component of GH¢300 million and GH¢660 million from the Road Fund.
In January this year, he said government disbursed GH¢125 million out of the remaining GH¢600 million to road contractors, leaving GH¢475 million.
Also, he stated that government has paid GH¢826 million of the GH¢1.2 billion loan contracted by the previous administration which used the Road Fund as collateral.

Debts cleared

President Akufo-Addo revealed that the government had cleared most of the statutory debts of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the District Assembly Common Fund and the Ghana Education Trust Fund, as well as salary arrears of teachers.

Laudable achievement

Despite government inheriting an economy laden with debts, he said measures introduced by the Economic Management Team had helped to settle the debts and restore confidence in the country’s economy.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had rebounded, recording a growth of 9.3 percent in the third quarter of 2017 as against 3.5 percent recorded in the same period in 2016.
He added that government had provided better budgetary support to the constitutionally mandated institutions that were supposed to hold government accountable, including the Auditor-General, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the Judiciary, Ministry Justice and Attorney General’s Department and the Economic Crime and Organised Office (EOCO).

Source: Daily Guide