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The Board Chairman of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust, Professor Joshua Alabi, has called on the public to dispel the notion that SSNIT must engage in all kinds of businesses because it has unlimited resources.

He pointed out that the obligation of the Trust was to protect the interest of contributors and it would, therefore, invest to improve the lives of contributors and not because SSNIT had the resources.

Professor Alabi said in pursuance of that objective, SSNIT would focus on investments that could generate enough returns to help the scheme grow in value.

He made the statement at the 50th anniversary thanksgiving service of SSNIT, held at the Atrium of the World Trade Centre in Accra last Sunday.

This year’s anniversary celebration is on the theme: “Social Security-Then, Now and Beyond.”

Professor Alabi announced that to mark the anniversary, SSNIT would build a boxing gymnasium complex at Bukom in Accra and reiterated that the Trust would also build 40 community police stations across the country.

Lack of understanding

Professor Alabi expressed concern about the attitude of those who accused SSNIT of engaging in corrupt and illegal activities without actually understanding its operations.

He cited the sale of Merchant Bank as an example, saying that “people accused us of selling the bank without any tangible reason, but as a custodian of people’s money, SSNIT could not have continued to pump money into an institution that was not performing to expectation”.

Professor Alabi stressed the need for the Trust to explain its operations to the public because he noted that ‘when people continue to present lies, it ultimately becomes the truth”.

The board chairman further said the scheme was now focused on the effective management of the funds at its disposal for which reason it would not indulge in any bad investments, adding that “through effective fund management, we can protect state resources, compensate workers adequately and halt bad investment”.

Integrity

Earlier in a sermon, a former President of the Ghana Baptist Convention, Rev. Steve Asante, advised the management and staff of SSNIT to uphold the highest form of integrity in the performance of their duties.

“In the performance of your duty, you must remember that your actions have a direct effect on the ordinary worker,” he stressed.

Rev Asante said institutions were failing because leaders and workers alike had opted not to live a life of integrity, adding that “integrity brings peace of mind, you will not have anything to hide when auditors come for inspection because you know that you have not indulged in any illegalities”.