NPRA Hijacks NAGRAT’s GHc1.7Bn Pension Cash

The National Association of Graduate Teachers [NAGRAT] is demanding an immediate transfer of GH¢1.7bn Pension Fund from the Temporal Pension Funds Account, being held by the National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA), to Ghana Education Service.

The association said even though a request was made to the chief Executive of the NPRA to transfer the cash to GES since June 2018, this had not been done.

A statement released to the media in Accra yesterday by the association disclosed that, teachers would have no option than to lay down their tools if they do not get what is due them.

“It is rather disappointing and somewhat annoying that the NPRA Chief Executive Officer, acting on the whims and caprices of the powers that be, is indicating to the Trustees that the transfer of the funds needs to be accompanied with the membership contribution data, as well as each member’s benefit statement, in order to enhance the Scheme’s ability to pay benefits hence, its inability to release the fund.

“Instead of concentrating on their core functions as regulators, the NPRA is now managing teachers’ funds for reasons best known to itself”, the statement said.

According to them, their investigations had revealed that the NPRA was being backed by some political gurus “for their personal egoistic gains”.

“We also have reasons to believe that government has remained glacial in helping teachers get the best out of their 2^nd tier pension because teachers’ contributions have now become a cheap source of funds for government”.

The association said it believed the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department had a question to answer in the ongoing drama.

“The Controller and Accountant   Generals’ Department lackadaisical attitude towards the release of the said data makes them complicit in this conspiracy to frustrate and undermine the object of the fund since members retiring very soon cannot access the fund.

We find this position very hypocritical and discriminatory. The question worth asking is: What data did they use in transferring money to other schemes”?

NAGRAT said contrary to the declaration by Finance Minister in the Mid-Year fiscal Policy Review of the 2018 budget that he had transferred GH¢3,001.73, million and restored workers’ pension funds, nothing to that effect had been received.

“The political interference in workers tier 2 Pension Scheme, which started in the previous government where Pension Alliance and Universal Merchant Bank were imposed on us is repeating itself in the current government, where Prudential Bank and Data Bank are being imposed on us.

We ask the Board of Trustees of the GES Fund to be resolute and prudent in the choice of service providers and not lend itself to the machinations of politicians”.

The association has thus threatened to withdraw its services if the authorities continue to pay deaf ear to its plight.

“NAGRAT will want to serve notice that if the funds are not transferred to the Scheme, we will not have any other alternative than to embark on a series of industrial actions to ensure that what is lawful is done”, the statement concluded