Government has debunked information circulating on social media that Cabinet has given approval for the cancellation of the CAP 30, the current pension scheme for personnel of the Ghana Police Service and other security agencies, effective 2021.
A statement signed and issued yesterday by Pius Enam Hadzide, Deputy Minister of Information, therefore called for calm and restraint among the country’s security personnel and the general public.
The government has also given the assurance that it remains committed to the welfare of members of the security agencies.
Minority’s call
The Minority in Parliament, in April last year, alleged that government intended to migrate personnel of the Ghana Police Service, the Bureau of National Investigations(BIN), Ghana National Fire Service(GNFS) and other security agencies from the CAP 30 Pension Scheme to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust(SSNIT) Pension Scheme.
They described the said “intended decision” as “retrogressive”, and called on the government to rescind the decision.
In a statement signed by James Agalga, MP for Builsa North and Ranking Member, Defence & Interior Committee of Parliament, the Minority said the decision was unnecessary.
“The Minority unreservedly condemns government’s attempt to remove the Ghana Police Service and other security services from the CAP 30 Pension Scheme,” portions of the statement read.
Palpable falsehood
The Minority’s claim was, however, debunked by the Majority in Parliament. The vice-chairman of the parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and the Interior, Collins Owusu-Amankwah, dismissed the claims, describing it as “palpable falsehood”.
“They should disregard that notion. We have no intention of migrating them (police), as we speak, from CAP 30 to the SSNIT Pension Scheme. There is no arrangement of that sort,” Mr Owusu-Amankwah said.
Subsequently, in April 17 2019, the Minister for Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, corroborated the response from Mr Owusu-Amankwah. He stated categorically that the government would not vary the CAP 30 Pension Scheme to the disadvantage of police officers.
“The President will not permit any change that will make security personnel suffer and that any such changes will not affect the Ghana Police Service,” he assured.
Resurrected
Strangely, this week, the Minority’s claim, which was rejected by the government, has resurfaced through some websites, seen to be having “suspicious origins”, seeking to reinforce the “palpable falsehood” that the government is bent on cancelling the CAP 30 Pension Scheme.
One of the dubious websites, designed in the name of Daily Graphic on-line, attributed the story to a Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, who doubles as MP for Heman Lower Denkyira constituency, Bright Wereko-Brobby.
It claimed that the Deputy Minister had suggested that the cancellation of the CAP 30 pension scheme would ensure that officers of some security services whose pension contributions are currently paid by the government start paying pension contributions from their earnings.
Condemnation
Meanwhile, the government’s statement has condemned those persons who hide behind such dubious websites to perpetrate such “evil acts”.
“Government condemns in no uncertain terms attempts by unscrupulous persons to cause confusion within the ranks of the security services, and urges the media to exercise great discretion and the highest ethical standards when reporting on security and related matters,” the statement said.
“The Hon. Minister for Interior, Ambrose Dery (MP), re-presented this position to the rank and file of the security Services on Wednesday April 17 2019 at the Police Headquarters when he stated, ‘the Ghana Police Service will not be migrated from CAP 30 as being rumoured, since government recognises the supreme sacrifices it makes for the country’,” the statement added.
