The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority’s Board of Trustees for its Provident and Pension Fund has bid farewell to Mrs. Mawusi Sapati and Samuel Aning, who are retiring from their roles as Chairperson and Independent Trustee of the Board respectively.
GPHA’s Provident and Pensions Fund was created to guarantee the security of employee earnings after retirement.
These two individuals had for 11 years led the Board in protecting the interests of GPHA in managing the Pension Fund of the Authority’s staff.
According to well-wishers at the send-off ceremony, the outgoing individuals were consummate professionals who exuded class and integrity in the conduct of their duties.
Samuel Aning, the outgoing Independent Trustee, encouraged stakeholders to rely on teamwork in achieving results.
“Engagement and consistent communication with your stakeholders is fundamental to your success. Due to the amount of misinformation out there, it is important that you continue to engage and let them know what the reality is.”
Mawusi Sapati, who doubles as the General Manager-Finance of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, expressed satisfaction with how the fund has been managed so far.
She said: “Staff should know that the pension fund is for their interests. There is therefore a need to uphold it, as it ensures their better tomorrow when they are off routine income.”
Tebon Zumah, who takes over from Mawusi Sapati as Chairman of the Board, said he and his team will take off from where his predecessor left by preserving value.
“The board of trustees has a structure that has laid-down procedures by which we will engage stakeholders. This will come in the form of durbars and even one-on-one discussions with the present administrator and others. We intend to intensify things, especially in this era of misconceptions all over the place,” he said.
Afriyie Oware, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Axis Pensions Trust Ltd. – one of the service providers managing the pension fund, said his outfit will continue to work closely with the board to achieve the Authority’s objectives for the fund.
He also assured investors that their monies are safe.
Mr. Oware said: “The safeguards around pension management are pretty robust, and anybody who has his/her funds in the pension scheme can rest assured that the funds are protected from any form of abuse”.
