The National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) opened its office in Tema last Friday with a call on workers and prospective contributors to use the facility to request information on any employer, trustee, fund manager or custodian on matters relating to their contributions and retirement benefits.
The Chief Executive Officer of NPRA, Mr Hayford Attah Krufi, who made the call, expressed the hope that the edifice would enhance their quest for visibility as an institution and provide the needed services and information to the general public and encourage them to understand the need to participate in pension.
The opening of the branch formed the highlight of this year’s national pension awareness week celebration.
This is the fifth zonal office to be opened after Kumasi, Takoradi, Sunyani and Tamale.
Mr Krufi said plans were far advanced to open the sixth one in Koforidua next year.
The NPRA established by the National Pensions Act of 2008 (ACT 766) started operating in 2010.
It among other objectives oversees the entire administration of pensions in the country, regulates pension providing institutions and monitors their activities to ensure that pension contributors enjoy retirement income security.
Mr Krufi said the thrive and the drive of pension into the informal sector which bore 85 per cent of the working population was abysmally low.
“We at NPRA have therefore strengthened our education and sensitisation across the country to let Ghanaians know that pension is not only for salaried workers but for everyone from the age of 15 who earns income. This allows you to put some of your earnings aside towards your retirement income security,” he said.
The office, he said, would among other things, receive and investigate complaints regarding the management of pension schemes, bring them to the doorsteps of employers for resolution and ensure employers comply with pension payments.
The Deputy Minister of Employment and Labor Relations, Mr Bright Wireko Brobbey, entreated employers and employees to take advantage of the office to seek information about pension and how they could be registered unto the scheme.
He lauded the NPRA for the efforts it was making to enroll workers from the informal sector unto pension schemes.
Mr Wireko Brobbey commended the authority for selecting a good location for the business and advised staff to exhibit excellent customer care to visitors to encourage more patronage.
The Member of Parliament for Tema East, Mr Isaac A. Odamtten, urged workers to liaise with the NPRA to ensure all their records were intact before retirement to avoid frustrations.
He expressed concern about the payment of low salaries by some industries that impoverished some retirees and pleaded with the authority to help reverse that.
FROM GODFRED BLAY GIBBAH, TEMA
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