He has, therefore, called for a national dialogue on the pension age in the country.

That, he said, would allow for more years of contributions to the pension schemes for payment of enhanced benefits to pensioners.

Mr Ankrah was speaking in Accra at a special get-together and raffle draw for members of the Ghana Mine Workers Union to start activities marking the 75th anniversary of the union.

The more than 750 mine workers had the opportunity to win about 200 items on display for the raffle draw which included  air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, water dispensers, microwaves, laptops, galaxy tablets, 43 inch digital flat screen television sets, automatic rice cookers, blenders, electric irons and multi-purpose sound systems.

Aside the raffle draw, each of the participants received special anniversary souvenirs.

Pay levels

Mr Ankrah also called for an improvement in the pay levels of workers to help boost their contributions to the pension schemes.

“There is need for a re-thinking in respect of the  present generation retiring at age 60 to 65 so that they can contribute more to build the pension fund and again make sure that the pay level of this country also goes up very well so that we can have a good pensionable income,” he said.

The General Secretary of the GMWU commended the managements of the various mines for their ethical consciousness in not toying with the pension contributions of mine workers.

Mr Ankrah gave an assurance to the members of the GMWU that the issue of better pension was always a priority of the union’s leadership in view of the hard work associated with mining.

“Actually, for pension to be sustained, it will mean employers paying their contributions on time as required by law and I must indicate that the mining industry does very well in that context”,  he stated.

SSNIT arrears

Mr Ankrah urged the government to ensure the timely release of pension contributions because when arrears accrued, “they affect the investment plans of SSNIT and other pension schemes and this invariably affect benefits in terms of pension incomes”.