The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said it welcomes the promise by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to pay the past credits of 2020 public sector pensioners is commendable.

TUC General Secretary, Dr Yaw Baah, told GhanaWeb in an interview on Friday, October 23, 2020, that the assurance by the President answers the TUC’s petition to him on the matter in August this year.

“It was a direct response to what we requested for. The President has given us an answer to what we were expecting. We expect that what the President said will be implemented.

“The President said they are going to form a committee so we are expecting that it will be formed and we are ready to participate in whatever processes that will ensure the implementation of the President’s promise,” he said.

Asked if the failure by the President to give a particular date for the start of the payment of the past credits is a source of worry, Dr Baah said that is the only grey area the TUC is concerned about.

“There was no timeline about when the monies will be paid and that is our only concern. But I am confident that once the President has promised, he is going to make sure it is implemented. I know for sure that he [President] will make sure it happens. I believe that it should be before the end of the year,” he said.

The past credit is the contribution of public sector workers to SSNIT who retired ten years after the coming into force of Act 766.

The issue of the past credit came about when Act 766 replaced PNDC Law 247, which is the law that created the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

Act 766 established a three-tier pension regime, with the mandatory first-tier managed by SSNIT and the second and third tiers by private fund managers.

The TUC is of the view that past credits computation done by SSNIT has created a shortage in the lump sums received by pensioners in 2020 under Act 766 when compared to those received by pensioners in 2019 under PNDC Law 247.