The Concerned SSNIT Pensioners Forum (CSPF) has described the Social Security and National Insurance Trust’s (SSNIT) 10 per cent pension increase for 2026 as inadequate, insisting that pensioners need a guaranteed minimum living pension to protect them from poverty.
In a press release issued on Saturday, January 10, 2026, the Forum acknowledged the announced increment but said it fails to address the severe economic pressures confronting retirees, particularly those on lower incomes. According to the group, rising costs of food, medication and healthcare have rendered annual percentage-based adjustments largely ineffective.
“The annual percentage increases have become meaningless without a guaranteed minimum living pension,” the CSPF stated, noting that many pensioners still struggle to afford basic necessities.
The Forum revealed that it petitioned SSNIT on November 19, 2025, urging urgent reforms, including a significant increase in the minimum pension and a review of the pension adjustment framework. Copies of the petition were also sent to the Ministers for Finance and Employment and Labour Relations, as well as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Pensions Authority.
In its proposals, CSPF called for the minimum monthly pension to be raised to GH¢600 and for an average pension increase of between 15 and 20 per cent for 2026. The Forum argued that the 2025 minimum pension of GH¢396.58 was insufficient even to cover basic medication costs, leaving many retirees dependent on others for survival.
Although CSPF said it met with SSNIT officials on December 10, 2025, and was assured that its concerns would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities, the group is now demanding clarification over what it described as inconsistencies in SSNIT’s public statements on minimum pensions.
The Forum questioned how SSNIT could state in a January 6, 2025 release that the minimum pension had increased from GH¢300 to GH¢396.58, yet indicate in a January 8, 2026 release that pensioners were still on a GH¢300 minimum pension.
“We therefore call on SSNIT to clarify what constitutes the minimum pension in Ghana,” the statement said.
Beyond the immediate concerns, the CSPF is advocating a broader policy shift, calling for the introduction of a national minimum pension policy similar to Ghana’s national minimum wage system. According to the group, such a policy would ensure that retirees can live with dignity after years of service.
The Forum has called for an urgent national dialogue involving SSNIT, government officials, organised labour, pensioner associations, economic planners and civil society groups to agree on a realistic and sustainable minimum pension benchmark.
Without these reforms, CSPF warned that the dignity and well-being of Ghana’s retirees would remain under serious threat, particularly as healthcare needs and costs increase with age.
