Parliament passes Pensions Bill

The bill seeks to amend the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766) to exclude the security services from the pension unification process envisaged under section 213 of Act 766.

If assented to by the President, the bill will exclude the security agencies from the unification of the process to pave the way for establishing a separate regime to govern pensions in the security and intelligence sector.

Per a report, the committee was informed that subsection (2) of section 213 of Act 766 mandated the board of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) to ensure the unification of all pension schemes and the full operationalisation of the three-tier pension scheme for all public sector workers, excluding the Ghana Armed Forces. 

“The committee was informed that an attempt at the unification of pensions during the payment of lump-sum benefits to the first batch of retirees from the security services under Tier 2 of the Three-Tier Pension Scheme in 2020 was fraught with massive employee data verification challenges, which stalled the entire unification process. 

“As a result of the challenges that emerged during the pension unification exercise and the unique nature of the security services in general, the Employment Ministry recommended excluding the security agencies from the unification process to pave the way for establishing a separate regime to govern pensions in the security and intelligence sector,” it said. 

In 2004, a Presidential Commission on pensions was established to examine existing pension schemes in Ghana and recommend a sustainable pension scheme that would ensure retirement income security for the Ghanaian worker. 

The acceptance by the government of the proposed reforms culminated in the enactment of the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766), which introduced the Three-Tier Pension Scheme and established the National Pensions Regulatory Authority as the main vehicle for enforcement.