…as 2021 SSNIT Mobile Service Week ends
More than 10,000 people have accessed the services of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) at its Mobile Service Week centres across the country, as at 1st September, 2021.
Data available to SSNIT indicate that 40 out of the 51 branches of the Trust nationwide had recorded this number of people who visited the centres to access the Trust’s services. The exercise ended last Friday, 3rd September, 2021.
The SSNIT Mobile Service (SMS) Week is an annual exercise where staff of the Trustpitch camp at vantage locations across the country to bring its services to the doorsteps of its Members and Clients.
Although this year’s SMS Week focused on creating a favourable platform to enable more informal sector workers to sign onto the SSNIT Scheme, other services provided at the various centres included issuance of Statements of Accounts, SSNIT and NIA numbers merger and Renewal of Pensioner Certificates.
The rest are benefits processing initiation and benefit status verification, employer registration, submission and validation of Contribution Reports, resolution of compliance issues and general enquiries.
The Pension House, Accra Central, and Kokomlemle centres had recorded more than 400 visits by Wednesday, 1st September, 2021 and some of the remaining centres had also recording between 200 to 300 visits from patrons and Members.
Speaking in an interview, the Corporate Affairs Manager of SSNIT, Ms. Afua Sarkidie, indicated that the exercise forms part of the Trust’s efforts to constantly engage with its Members and the public by focusing on member and client satisfaction.
“As at Wednesday, 1st September, 2021, the number of people that had visited our centres was quite encouraging. This shows the growing interest in the Scheme and is indicative of the goodwill, support and trust SSNIT has worked to establish with its Members and the public over the period”, she noted.
Informal sector participation
Currently, less than 20,000 Members out of over 1.6 million SSNIT contributors are self-employed.
As part of efforts to increase informal sector participation in the SSNIT Scheme, officials of SSNIT embarked on its Mobile Service Week exercise to provide solutions regarding registrations, contributions and benefits under the Scheme.
Highlighting the steps being taken by SSNIT to rope in more self-employed workers onto the Scheme, Ms. Sarkodie explained that the Trust will soon begin discussions with the leadership of various trade groups in the informal sector to expand coverage to its workers.
“These discussions are aimed at driving full participation of informal sector workers in the SSNIT Scheme by registering to join the Scheme and get benefits upon retirement, just as their counterparts in the formal sector”, she explained.
These groups include Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Ghana Private Road and Transport Union (GPRTU), Ghana Actors Guild and small businesses under the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), formerly, National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI).
Mobile Service Week
This year’s SSNIT Mobile Service Week was on the theme “Retirement Security for the Self –Employed: Join SSNIT Today as a Voluntary Contributor”.
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