Ghana Audit Service - pension clinic for staff to retire in 2021

The Management of Audit Service organised the maiden pension clinic for retiring staff on 24th March, 2021. The 1-day workshop held at the Cleaver House in Accra was attended by 20 staffing retiring from the Service in 2021. Also present at the ceremony were the Acting Auditor-General, the Deputy Auditor-General for Finance, Administration and Human Resource, the Assistant Auditor-General for Administration and Human Resource and staff from the Human Resource and Personal Units.

In the opening remarks, the Acting Auditor-General, Mr. Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu advised the attendees not to consider retirement as the end of life or a busy schedule but as a transition from life as an employee of Audit Service to life as a free man. He encouraged them to engage in activities such as farming or business to keep them active as the body will become weak with inactivity. He further touched on the need to be physically active to keep the heart strong, socially active to be in a happy mood and keep the mind healthy and being conscious of dietary requirements. He ended by stating that, Management has decided to make retirees participate in the annual thanksgiving service and other social events organised by the Service.

Mr. Nortey Dua, a Clinical Psychologist spoke on Managing the challenges and opportunities of retirement as a life transition. In his presentation, he delved into how the soon to be retirees can understand and effectively manage change and also understand and accept their present situation. He then delved into equipping and empowering them with the necessary knowledge to enable them deal with the changes that comes with retirement. Finally, he provided coping strategies to ensure a smooth transition to a new phase for the personal and professional life of the soon to be retirees.

Mr Emmanuel Kofi Sackey from SSNIT spoke on How to invest for retirement. He talked about the financial errors most retirees make in their lives after receiving their end of service benefits and how to avoid them. He further took attendees through the various investment instruments they can take advantage of to ensure they do not go into a state of poverty and misery after retirement.

In her delivery on Joining Ghana Audit Service Pensioners Association (GASPA), Mrs Abigail Pentsil, the President of the association presented a brief history of GASPA and what is required of retired staff who wish to join them. She also spoke on the benefits of being a member and some future plans to strengthen the association.

Mr Raphael Dodoo from the Personnel Unit spoke on Pension processing touching on the following areas: