The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) at the weekend launched its new initiative which is meant to bring pension services closer to clients and members of the scheme.
Dubbed SSNIT Saturday Service, the new innovation, launched at the Airport City branch of the Trust, attracted members of the Trust, clients, pensioners, pension trustee companies and members of the general public.
Speaking at the launch, the Deputy Director-General of SSNIT, in charge of Administration and Finance, Mr Michael Addotey Addo, said the SSNIT Saturday Service was in line with the Trust’s agenda to build a customer-centric organisation.
“This means that on a daily basis, we are thinking through and implementing measures and interventions that will ensure that our members and clients have comfort, convenience and easy access to our services,” he explained.
Mr Addo further added that quite a number of members and clients of the Trust had requested that SSNIT provides opportunity for them to do business with SSNIT on Saturdays as a result of their inability to visit the Trust’s offices during the weekdays.
“SSNIT has listened to the concerns of our members and we are opening our doors from October 2 to offer services to members on Saturdays. What this means is that with the exception of a few of the services we offer, you can walk into the selected branches on Saturdays and transact business with us,” he stressed.
Mr Addo said the SSNIT Saturday Service was one more channel to ensure that members of the scheme and the public had continuous access to the services of the Trust.
The Deputy Director-General said employers could also make payments if the 14th day of the month fell on a Saturday in order to avoid penalties.
Mr Addo disclosed that the programme would be piloted for six months in nine branches of SSNIT, and would be reviewed after three months and final assessment would be done after the six months has elapsed to ascertain whether the programme should be extended to all the branch and regional offices.
He mentioned that nine branches for the pilot of the programme as Legon (within the Golf House Building, Shiashie, Accra, Industrial Area adjacent New Times Corporation, North Industrial Area, Accra Trust Towers (within the Trust Towers building, opposite Accra Hearts of Oak office, Accra), Airport City (within the SSNIT Emporium building, Airport junction, Accra.
The rest are Tema Community 2 (in the same building with SG-SSB, behind Community 2 Total Fuel Station, Tema Harbour (adjacent National Investment Bank (NIB), Community 1, Meridian, Adum (within SSNIT Adum Office Complex, adjacent GCB Bank, Kumasi), Asafo (within the SSNIT House, close to Kumasi Technical University) Takoradi (SSNIT House, near Akroma Plaza).
Mr Addo said services members of the scheme and clients could enjoy were employer registration, worker registration, validation of contribution report and contribution payment benefits processing.
The rest are update of member’s records, SSNIT and NIA numbers merger, request for statements of account, renewal of pensioner certificates.
The Accra South Area Manager of SSNIT, John Boateng, said the Saturday Service had added an additional day for members and clients to access the services of the Trust, especially for those who preferred the “human contact” yet had busy schedules during the week.
He entreated members and clients to observe the COVID-19 safety protocols whenever they visited SSNIT offices so as to protect themselves and the staff of the Trust.
The President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Affail Monney, described the Saturday service as a novelty and urged the media to highlight more on it.
He said the customer service of SSNIT was second to none, stressing that “the media should highlight more on the positives of SSNIT.”
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
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