The Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, says he has cancelled the practice where Executive Directors of the state agency, were paid to attend internal board meetings.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang said he halted the practice when he took over from his predecessor, to cut down on the huge expenditure the company was incurring.
[contextly_sidebar id=”r6XsF985likMvnMyzXsNBzmecgFlJcrX”]“I found out that Executive Directors were being paid for attending their own board meetings… I am used to sitting allowances being paid for non-executive directors so I stopped the practice..”
This revelation comes at a time when four persons including the former Director-General of the SSNIT, Ernest Thompson, have been charged for allegedly causing financial loss to the state following the Economic Organised Crimes Office’s (EOCO) investigations into the $72 million software scandal.
SSNIT, under Mr. Thompson, allegedly embarked on a digitization drive which cost a whopping $72 million. That figure, after an audit by Pricewaterhouse Coopers Ghana, has now ballooned to about $199 million.
The five were initially arrested by EOCO after the audit indicted them.
‘First class travels’
Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang further indicated that his predecessors including Ernest Thompson traveled outside on first class tickets, something that was draining the finances of the pensioners agency.
He says he has since cut readjusted some of these travelling arrangements, and has saved over $4 million for the company.
“We started cutting cost, putting certain procurement items on hold. The first time I went there, and I was being told my benefits, as part of my conditions of service I was told that the Director-General flies first class for all his business travels. But I declined. I said I would fly business [class] because, from a first-class ticket, that is probably twice the price of a first class visit.
“That is a signal to say that cost cutting is here so we should all tighten our belts,” he noted
‘Bad deals’
According to Dr. Ofori- Tenkorang, some financial agreements signed under SSNIT’s previous administration are currently draining the company’s finances.
He said these agreements were badly negotiated, compelling SSNIT to pay huge amounts for no work done.
Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang indicated that SSNIT only has the option of cancelling some contracts and relying on performance of the service delivery to avoid judgment debt.
“A whole host of service agreements were put in place. Some of them for as long as three years that binds SSNIT to pay on a yearly basis for so-called support. My difficulty with that is that, I had difficulty paying for support for a product which was not properly signed off as fully working and for fixes that maybe as a result of poor implementation.”
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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana