Seventy-Six year old Ghanaian international journalist, Elizabeth Akua Ohene is now chairing Board of the Social Security National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).
The board was inaugurated by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta on Tuesday.
The minister entreated the new board to ensure prudent management of workers’ contributions.
He said over GHC10 billion of all collections were spent paying pensions and other benefits, and charged the Board to commence stakeholder consultations towards new, innovative funding options for the Scheme.
He said Government from 2017 contributed GHC 5.2 billion for workers towards their SSNIT pension compared to just about GHC2.9 billion between 2013 and 2016, and that the number of workers contributing to the SSNIT scheme increased by some 23 per cent in 2016 to 1.6 million as of 2020.
Ms Ohene, said they would collaborate with management to make the best decision for the Trust to succeed.
Ms Ohene served as Minister of State for Tertiary Education under the Kufuor administration, having previously appointed Minister for Media Relations in the administration.
She replaces 80-year old Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor who was the Board Chairman of SSNIT since 2017.
Born on January 24, 1945 in Ho in the Volta Region, the erudite journalist cum politician attended Mawuli School and gained admission to the University of Ghana in 1964, graduating with B.A. degree in English in 1967.
She also attended the University of Indiana, in Bloomington, Indiana, USA, where she obtained a Mass Communication Certificate. She was a Press Fellow from January to June 1983 at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom.