The Managing Director of the New Times Corporation (NTC), publish­ers of the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers, Mr. Martin Adu Owusu has asked the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to be flexible in its dealings with government institutions.

According to him, it was important SSNIT takes a second look at its deal­ings with these agencies, regarding the imposition of penalties for late payment of contributions.

Mr Adu Owusu said this on Wednes­day when he received a delegation from SSNIT on a familiarisation visit.

“There are times our contributions delay and we are penalised heavily, even taken to court. But we are all government institutions, so I think there should be some understanding,” he said.

That notwithstanding, Mr Adu Owusu gave the assurance that the Corporation was ready to deepen its partnership with the Trust for the benefit of Mother Ghana.”

Mr. Lord Koramoa, Public Affairs Manager of SSNIT who led the delega­tion disclosed that the Trust was begin­ning to build stronger partnerships with government institutions, especially the media.

Such collaborations, he explained, were necessary because the institutions served the same national goals and work towards a common agenda.

According to him, government insti­tutions like the NTC plays a crucial role in creating public awareness, adding that such partnerships would go a long way to propagate activities of the Trust.

“I believe in building solid relation­ships with organisations like the NTC. It’s a win-win situation, it’s a win for the institutions and by extension the government,” Mr Koramoa said.

He said such a partnership should go beyond the promotion of the national pension scheme to other areas of mutu­al benefit.

The Editor of The Spectator, Mrs Georgina Naa-Maku Quaittoo, assured the officials of SSNIT of The Spectator’s readiness to collaborate with them to educate the public on issues relating to pensions, updating of records for bene­ficiaries among others.

“We hope that officials of SSNIT would be ready to release information on time whenever they are contacted,” she said.

The Acting Editor of the Ghanaian Times, Alhaji Salifu Abdul-Rahaman, advised the SSNIT officials to sustain the campaign to ensure that journalists remain informed to correctly inform the public.

The Deputy Manager of Public Affairs at SSNIT, Ms Jemimah Ofori said the Trust has chalked some feats in its service delivery with the use of digital platforms to make pension contributions and benefit claims faster and easier.

“Our SSNIT App, website, and MoMo payment system now allow self-em­ployed persons and employers to pay contributions conveniently, processing of claims has also improved significant­ly. Some people even receive payments in less than a month,” she said.

 By Andrew Nortey