Teachers going on pension will suffer – GNAT Sec on Tier 2 arrears
According to Thomas Musah, General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), retirees are struggling due to the unpaid tier two for them.
Mr Musah claims that over the previous two years, individuals on pension have had nothing to write home about.
According to the General Secretary, tier 2 is lucrative based on the amount of profit made on donations made.
This means, what the teachers receive is according to the profit the tier 2 contributions make.
GNAT is lamenting that for every month, the amount the government deducts is about 35 million to 36 million Ghana Cedis which by law, within 14 days, the government must put in the fund, if not, then the government must pay a 3% interest for it.
Mr Musah disclosed that although government defaulted, no effort has been made to pay the three percent which is affecting the scheme.
The National Pension Regulatory Authority, which is supposed to ensure that government complies by paying their deduction, is doing nothing about the situation.
He added that the scheme can only pay anyone going on pension or anyone on pension based on the last deduction which is March 2022.
This comes at the back of a joint statement by the leadership of four teacher unions who said the government makes monthly deductions from their salaries for payment of their Occupational Pension Scheme (Tier 2) contributions to the Ghana Education Service.
The aggrieved unions include the Ghana National Association of Teachers, the National Association of Graduate Teachers, the Coalition of Concerned Teachers and the Tertiary Educational Workers Union.
The default, according to them, spans over nine months as the last payment was made in March 2022.
This means workers who went on pension last year are in a big mess as their pension calculations would be affected.
In a joint statement by the leadership of the unions, they said the government makes monthly deductions from their salaries for the purpose of the contribution.
However, the government is in arrears of over GH¢400 million.
The groups have, therefore, given the government up to the end of February 2023 to settle all arrears.
