The immediate past Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, has expressed satisfaction with the level of work done at the Trust over the last seven years under his leadership.
Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang underscored that he is a “proud man” looking back to what he has achieved with his team from 2017 to April 2024.
The outgoing Director-General made these remarks in his parting engagement with staff of the Trust yesterday, Monday, April 15.
“Fast forward to April 2024, I look at the SSNIT we have now and I must say I am a very happy man. Indeed, I am quite proud and you, my colleagues, should also be very proud of what we have achieved together,” said the former Director-General.
He added, “Today we have managed to build a service-centred organisation which can anticipate and meet the needs of stakeholders at their preferred touch points.”
Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang further revealed that the Trust has over the past seven years rolled out additional service delivery touchpoints to “improve customer service” such as Pensioner’s Priority Desk, DG-direct WhatsApp line, and an enhanced web portal, amongst others.
Furthermore, he emphasised the successful rollout of the SSNIT and Ghana Card numbers merger.
“Over 2.3 million members including inactive contributors, pensioners and beneficiaries have merged their numbers so far. The Ghana Card is now the primary identification document for all SSNIT transactions.”
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This has eliminated the cost of printing biometric cards for new Members, reduced impersonation and fraudulent activities in payment of claims to pensioners and beneficiaries.
Also, the Trust successfully implemented the distribution of quarterly electronic statements of account to all members.
The Trust, within the period, streamlined the payment platforms to facilitate easy payment access for clients.
He added that SSNIT introduced and deployed a payment platform known as SSNITPAY to enhance contribution collection as well as a mobile money wallet (USSD code), SSNIT partner banks, direct debit cards, and mobile money options via the web portal and SSNIT branches.
According to Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang, internal surveys show that the adoption of these business practices improved customer satisfaction to 82.9% in 2022, up from 69.7% in 2017.
However, the outgoing Director-General asked the staff to offer their unwavering support to the newly appointed D-G, Kofi Bosompem Osafo Maafo, even more than they offered him.
Background
It would be recalled that President Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, April 9, terminated the appointment of Dr. Ofori Tenkorang. In his stead, the President appointed Kofi Bosompem Osafo-Maafo, the son of the former senior minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo.
Osafo-Maafo’s appointment resulted in Pearl Nana Ama Darko, the Deputy Director General for Operations and Benefits, being reassigned to the role of Commissioner for Support Services at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Juliana Kpedekpo, therefore, took over from Pearl Nana Ama as the new Deputy Director General for Operations and Benefits.