Kumasi (Ashanti region) 13 April '99

Churches have been advised to allow their pastors to register with the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and "contribute to their future security". Mr Adjei Mensah, Deputy Ashanti Regional Manager of SSNIT, said pastors' contributions are "crucial, because pastors, like other workers, will definitely be caught up with age and retire from the gospel ministry, and will need some form of income to survive on". At a forum organised by the Kumasi Ministers Fellowship in Kumasi on Monday to educate its members, who are all pastors, on the SSNIT pension scheme, Mr. Mensah stated that various organisations could have their private occupational schemes and still belong to the SSNIT pension scheme. Over 80 pastors attended the forum from various Christian denominations in Kumasi. The pastors are to explain the value of the SSNIT pension scheme to their congregations. "It is wrong to assume that SSNIT pension is paid only to the aged. We pay pension to contributors who are invalid, provided such people have honoured their contributions for three or more years". Mr Mensah said to ensure prompt payment of pensions to beneficiaries under the pension scheme, SSNIT has made a lot of investments in the banks, breweries and housing. About 160 flats have been completed for the past one year by SSNIT at Asuoyeboa in Kumasi, but allocation to workers has been delayed because of lack of water and electricity. The Reverend Douglas Frimpong, Chairman of the Kumasi Ministers Fellowship, said once Christians and pastors continue to live on earth, they cannot isolate themselves from contemporary issues. They should therefore "get actively involved in the scheme".