The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, has called on traditional rulers to join hands with the new Tier-3 Pension Scheme by encouraging people in the informal sector to contribute to the scheme.

That, he said, would enable people in the informal sector to enjoy voluntary personal pension payments to cater for their needs at old age.

He said chiefs, as opinion leaders, had the clout to influence informal sector workers to take vital decisions such as contributing to the fund.

Mr Baffour Awuah made the call at the launch of the National Pensions Awareness Week in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital, last Thursday.

The one-week education awareness programme, dubbed: “Total Participation In Pensions To Ensure Retirement Income Security”, is targeted at workers in the informal sector to encourage them to contribute to the Tier-3 Pension Scheme.

The Tier-3 Voluntary Pension Scheme is being managed by the corporate trustees supervised by the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) to help informal sector workers to plan towards their old age.

“Nananom, kindly drum home the need for workers in the informal sector to contribute to the scheme since it will be beneficial to them during their old age. Our target groups in the informal sector include hairdressers associations, market women, transport unions, beauticians associations, among others,” Mr Baffour Awuah stated.

Mr Baffour Awuah said out of the 11.9 million workers, only a few were in the formal sector contributing to the pension scheme, while the majority, who were in the informal sector contributed nothing to the fund.

Read more @Graphic