The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has sensitized media practitioners from the Northern and Upper East Regions on its inclusive initiative called Self-Employment Enrollment Drive (SEED).
The SEED initiative according to SSNIT focuses on extending pension coverage to Self-employed pensions and workers in the informal sector on the scheme.
With the responsibility to ensure that every worker in Ghana has social protection, SSNIT’s SEED essentially is a repackaging of the Tier 1 product which targets to enrol every self-employed beyond the current 34,000 self employed active contributors.
About 85% of Ghana’s economy is informal, consisting of 6.7 million self-employed persons, with only 34,000 self-employed active SSNIT contributors from a total working population of 9.9 million, a situation the scheme is not enthused about.
Speaking during a presentation on the Self-Employment Enrollment Drive, the Public Affairs Manager of SSNIT, Charles Akwesi Garshong said, the initiative among other things will provide income replacement and ensure that self-employed workers have a guaranteed source of income during old age or permanent disability while providing life policy by paying lump sums to survivors of members who pass on.
Mr Garshong said, self-employed under the SEED targets the consultants, architects, lawyers, traders, musicians, actors, taxi drivers, dressmakers, online business owners, artisans, mechanics others who run their own businesses.
He noted that, “self-employed persons who have contracted the services of workers are obliged to pay social security contributions on behalf of their workers, examples are house-helps, security, shop assistance among others”.
Mr Garshong urged the media to lead and drive publicity of the SEED initiative to ensure its success by generating story ideas and news stories around retirement planning and social protection to encourage sign-on.
“Invite SSNIT staff to outdoor engagement events where the Trust will have the opportunity to interact with potential members and sign them onto the scheme and design motivational messages and come up with testimonial videos on retirement planning in your programs to encourage sign-on” – He added.
