Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah has justified his designation as minister responsible for pensions.

In an exclusive interview with Citi News shortly after he made the disclosure before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Parliament, he said the role handed him is not new and has always existed per law.

The Minister added that he had already been doing that but the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had to make it official.

The announcement of the designation, previously under the purview of the Finance Minister, has been misconstrued by observers as a creation of an entirely fresh Ministry by the government.

“I appeared before the [Public Accounts] Committee and the chairman asked me which Minister is responsible for SSNIT and I read the letter to him. So, it’s not any new thing. I still remain the Minister for Employment except that I have additional responsibility with oversight of pensions. That’s the simple terms of reference to see over SSNIT and National Pensions Regulatory Authority as my agencies for policy directives”, Mr. Baffour-Awuah told Citi News‘ Umaru Sanda Amadu.

The appointment which is in accordance with section 211 of the National Pensions Act 2008 (ACT 766) will see the minister steering the affairs of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) effective January 30, 2023.

“The law says that the President has to designate a specific Minister for pensions. So that is what he has exactly done just that to a greater extent, I was playing that particular role, but I had not been officially designated as Minister responsible.”

“It’s just been more official. To be very honest, hitherto, it was under the Minister of Finance. So I am surprised by the publications because this was just to clear a point by the Committee”, he added.