The government has settled GH¢2.5 billion in bonds owed to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), as announced by Director-General Kofi Osafo-Maafo during a stakeholder engagement with pensioners in Kumasi.

He highlighted that, as of August, SSNIT had disbursed over GH¢3.7 billion in pensions to more than 250,000 retired workers nationwide.

Mr. Osafo-Maafo reaffirmed SSNIT’s commitment to enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of the pension scheme, emphasizing its role as a vital lifeline that has consistently provided financial security and dignity to retirees since 1991, without any delays in pension payments.

SSNIT also projected a surge in enrolments under its Self-Employed Enrolment Drive (SEED), which could attract up to 250,000 participants in the coming year.

Since its launch in May 2023, the SEED initiative has enrolled around 120,000 self-employed individuals as of September. The campaign aims to extend the National Social Security scheme to self-employed workers, allowing them to retire with security and dignity.

Chief Actuary Joseph Poku attributed the anticipated enrolment growth to the campaign’s rapid expansion, driven by the Operation-A-Thon (Ops-A-Thon) sensitisation tour, which has been actively raising awareness in major towns across the country.

As part of Ops-A-Thon, SSNIT staff have been visiting business hubs, markets, and streets in selected towns, distributing flyers and displaying placards to inform self-employed workers about the benefits of joining the SSNIT Scheme.

Awareness events have already been successfully held in locations such as Wa, Techiman in the Bono East Region, Koforidua in the Eastern Region, and Tarkwa in the Western Region.