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The Joint Committee which was instituted to resolve the impasse surrounding the operationalisation of the Second Tier Mandatory Pension Scheme, has presented its recommendations to the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations in Accra.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, who received the documents at the Meet-the-Press series on Tuesday, commended the Committee for the excellent work done, and gave the assurance that Government would ensure it worked with the recommendations to ensure advancement of the management of the Scheme.

He took the opportunity to read out highlights of the report to the media, saying the Joint Committee, made up of representatives of the Employer (Government of Ghana) on one side, and Workers on the other, mutually agreed that multiple schemes should be allowed to exist and operate.

Mr Iddrisu said the recommendations also include the fact that the Board of Trustees of each party shall be reconstituted with representatives from Employers and Workers, and also the Employer shall nominate the Chairperson for each of the Board of Trustees of the four Schemes.

He said the Committee recommended that two Fund Managers should be appointed for each scheme, one to be nominated by the Employer and the other by the Workers, with the former nominating the custodian for all the four schemes.

He said the Committee however recommended that an independent Trustee should be nominated by the Workers for approval by the Board of Trustees, and that the composition of the various Boards of Trustees should be as proposed by the Employer.

They also demanded that some rules should be amended to reflect the proposals.

Mr Iddrisu said for smooth administration, the Joint Committee agreed that each Scheme should have one Administrator who should be nominated by the respective Labour Union and Associations for the Health Sector, the Civil and Local Government Servants Association of Ghana, and the Judicial Service.

He said for the Educational sector which was the largest of all, the Employer, would nominate one competent Administrator.

The Employment and Labour Relations Minister explained that the forum of these Public Sector Unions had earlier entertained fears that its rank and file may not be satisfied if the Pensions Alliance Trust was solely selected by the Employer as Trustee for the Educational Sector Scheme Administrator.

Mr Iddrisu said the National Pensions Regulatory Authority has already transferred funds from the Temporary Pension Fund Account at the Bank of Ghana to two Employer Sponsored Schemes in the Private Sector.

He explained that the Trustees of the beneficiary Schemes were responsible for issuing member contribution statements to workers through their employers, and that the Authority has put in place a mechanism for resolution of post transfer issues with the Trustees.

He therefore urged members of the beneficiary Schemes to channel their concerns, if any, to their Trustees through their employers.

He said currently, 18 applicants made up of four Master Trust Schemes and 14 Employer Sponsored Schemes were going through a due diligence compliance process after which their funds would be transferred.