SSNIT saves GHC425 million from “ghost pensioners” since 2018

SSNIT said it has been liaising with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and other institutions to eliminate ghost names from the pensions payroll

The director general of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), John Ofori-Tenkorang has said his outfit has been able to save GHC425 million by removing ghost names from the pensions payroll since 2018.

Ghana has been grappling with the challenge of ghost names on the country’s public sector payroll over the years.

But Ofori-Tenkorang said though SSNIT has been able to make some savings when it comes to the ghost pension space, there is still work to be done in that area.

He said SSNIT has been liaising with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and other institutions to eliminate ghost names from the pensions payroll.

Speaking with Nana Yaa Mensah on Sunday Night on Asaase 99.5, Accra, Ofori-Tenkorang said “There is quite a bit of work to be done there… From when we started this around 2018 till now we’ve saved GHC425 million that would have gone out there and never come back…we also realised that there are people who may be are gone, the monies have gone into their account but have not claimed.”

He added, “So we had to liaise with the Bank of Ghana to issue a circular to banks; that any bank that receives payments from SSNIT and have not been claimed for a period of time then it is the obligation of the bank to return such payments into a specified account at the Bank of Ghana and we can claim…and if they [pensioners] show up we give it to them.

In 2022, SSNIT revealed that it had removed more than 21,000 ‘ghost’ pensioners from the scheme after it embarked on measures to ensure prompt payment of pensions.