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A research group, the Objective Media Forum, has taken a swipe at persons they have described as faceless for attacking the integrity of the Director-General, Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, following the release of the 2019 Auditor-General’s report.

The group in a statement said, there is an attempt by some persons with interest in the position of SSNIT boss- fueling unnecessary attacks and unfounded allegations against him.

The group said the report although was completed in 2019 predates the present administration with some going as far back as 2009.

The 2019 report has among other things stated that nine out of 21 agent banks of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) failed to remit a total of about GH¢26.3 million cedis of pension contribution collections to the designated account at the Bank of Ghana as of the end of the 2017 and 2018 financial years respectively.

The report has also indicated that the Trust has failed to collect a loan of GH¢2.37 million loans given to eight related companies in contravention of Section 91(1) of Act 921.

After the report was released, the current DG has become a subject of public ridicule with some persons blaming him for the issues.

But the research group says it would be senseless for anyone to blame him when they know he was not the one in charge when these issues came up.

”All these achievements and others make the allegations against him facetious, senseless and whimsical.

No attempt to denigrate him will wash because he is a man of credibility, integrity, substance, and competence.

As a group, we wish to advise persons who have made it their business in attacking men of credibility to stop.

We should encourage politics of truth and sanity. The act where people for their selfish interests attack people without any just cause should not be encouraged in our democracy,” the statement said.

Read the full statement below

The Objective Media Forum has followed keenly an attempt by some individuals to smear the Director-General of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, with unsubstantiated claims and accusations.

These individuals are executing a political agenda to smear the SSNIT Director-General with the report of the Auditor-General that some 9 banks out of 21 agent banks of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) failed to remit a total of about GH¢26.3 million cedis of pension contribution collections to the designated account at the Bank of Ghana as of the end of the 2017 and 2018 financial years respectively.

We wish to state categorically that the current DG cannot and should not be blamed for this report.

There is also a part of the report which states that the Trust has failed to collect a loan of GH¢2.37 million loans given to eight related companies in contravention of Section 91(1) of Act 921.

This was due to ineffective due diligence on the investment.

Also, the Current DG should not and cannot be blamed for an action that did not occur under his administration.

For the avoidance of doubt, although the Audit report was completed in 2019, the major issues raised predates the present administration with some going as far back as 2009.

It. is, therefore, unfortunate for anyone to drag the current DG into the mess created by another administration.

These attempts orchestrated by individuals interested in his post will yield no fruit.

As a research group that is objective and deals with facts, we can boldly state that the current DG has managed to receive a total payment of GH¢665.48 million of the amount from the GH¢773m debt.

This is made up of the payment of GH¢430 million and a tradable bond of GH¢235 million as of June 2019.

Subsequently, CAGD has transferred GHS 2.33 billion to cover part of the debt owed SSNIT.

A payment plan has been put in place, and Management will keep engaging CAGD and the Ministry of Finance to ensure compliance.

SSNIT has also issued a detailed response to all the issues raised by the Auditor-Generals Report, and we will encourage the general public to reference that response in the face of the attempt to attack the credibility of Dr Ofori-Tenkorang.

Under the leadership of the current DG, SSNIT has saved an amount of GH¢130 million in the last three years through the cleaning of the pensioner’s payroll.

He has since, his appointment, spearheaded the team to transform the operator of the national basic pension scheme into a transparent and client-focused public institution comparable to any well managed private institution with largely positive media coverage.

He has over the past 4 years ensured the efficient implementation of policies from the Board of Trustees and the effective deployment and utilisation of resources to achieve the strategic objectives and goals of the Trust.

He has among other achievements, increased the number of employers paying contributions from 54,000 in December 2016 to over 65,000 in November 2020 representing, a performance of 21.04%, helped increasing active contributions by 28.35% from 1.27 million as of December 2016 to 1.63 million as of November 2020.

He also exceeded the contributions collection target by 9.7%; Collected a total of GH¢13.2 billion compared to a target of GH¢12.0 billion for the period.

All these achievements and others make the allegations against him facetious, senseless and whimsical.

No attempt to denigrate him will wash because he is a man of credibility, integrity, substance, and competence.

As a group, we wish to advise persons who have made it their business in attacking men of credibility to stop.

We should encourage politics of truth and sanity. The act where people for their selfish interests attack people without any just cause should not be encouraged in our democracy.

We conclude by reiterating that Dr Ofori-Tenkorang is incorruptible, credible and a patriot who is transforming SSNIT and must be allowed to focus on his work.