A total of GH¢193,116,008.95 in employees’ pension funds held in a temporary account at the Bank of Ghana had been transferred to registered schemes, Dr. Nii Kwaku Sowa, Board Chairman of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), has announced.

This, he said, was done between November and December 31, last year, after preconditions for such transfers had been satisfied.

He was speaking at the official opening of the Kumasi Zonal Office of the NPRA, the first to be established outside the Accra Head Office.

The presence and visibility of the Authority in the nation’s second largest city, is meant to provide service providers, employers and workers the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the new pensions scheme and its implementation.

Dr. Nii Sowa said it had so far registered 256 schemes under the mandatory second-tier occupational pension scheme and to ensure compliance, the NPRA had begun implementing its sanctions regime.

They were keen to see to the proper implementation of the pension scheme, which he said, offered the Ghanaian worker, best income security after retiring from active service.

He underlined its resolve to improve coverage to all in the formal and informal sectors.

Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, pledged the government’s determination to ensure that there was retirement security for the people.

It would therefore insist that employee contributions were properly invested, he added.

The Minister used the occasion to hint of the decision to wean the NPRA off government subvention.