SSNIT Saves GHS18.1m after Deleting 8,366 Ghosts Names

Measures introduced by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) in February 2018 to delete ghost names from the pension payroll have yielded positive results.

The Corporate Affairs Manager of Social Security and National Insurance Trust, SSNIT, Madam Afua Sarkodie has said about 8,366 names have been deleted from government’s Pension pay roll in an exercise conducted by the scheme this year.

She said, the names of 43,618 pensioners were earmarked to be deleted in the event they failed to go through the verification exercise.

In an exclusive interview on the deactivation exercise in Accra on Tuesday, the Director-General of SSNIT, Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, said the names of 43,618 pensioners were earmarked to be deleted in the event they failed to go through the verification exercise.

According to data available, 35,252 pensioners verified their accounts bio-metrically.

There were ample public announcements urging pensioners to verify their accounts bio-metrically, Dr Ofori-Tenkorang said. He explained that the public education campaign went on for six months before the deactivation exercise began.

Additionally, the accounts of 1,471 out of the 9,348 pensioners between the ages of 80 and 89 have also been deactivated following their failure to bio-metrically verify their accounts.

He further  explained that the exercise was aimed at doing away with ghost names on the trust’s pension payroll, as well as whip up public confidence in the administration of pension funds.