Former President of Ghana, John Mahama, wants the SSNIT to pay contributors tokens to ease COVID-19 hardships

Mr Mahama said that this will help mitigate the effects of the outbreak on the social and economic lives of contributors.

He said this when he held his first digital conversation on Ghana’s COVID-19 situation.

John Mahama said that SSNIT contributors are not only expected to reap from the contributions when they are pensioners. He added that SSNIT should also be a form of insurance to help members through difficult times as this COVID-19 era.

“Social security contributions are essentially an insurance scheme made not just for pensions in old age before we die. They are also made to help contributors in times of adversities such as this. Not all will come out and queue for food, but as has been done in other countries like St. Lucia, I think a token payment to all contributors of a certain token sum over three months would have afforded many the assurance of feeding their families during this abnormal times,” he said.

Ex-president Mahama also entreated his successor, President Akufo-Addo to reduce what he described as frivolous expenditure so he can generate more revenue due to the pressure on the economy.

He explained that such a move would let the public see the government’s good leadership and sacrifice amid pressure on the country’s economy due to the COVID-19 outbreak.