The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) office in Takoradi has dragged the Ghana Railways Corporation (GRC) and its Managing Director, Michael Adjei Anyetei, to court for nonpayment of social security contributions of the entity’s workers to the tune of GH¢4.13 million.
The Circuit Court presided over by Araba Nunoo, issued the warrant for the arrest of the managing director after the SSNIT Prosecutor, Ann-Marie Annan, applied for a bench warrant to that effect.
Facts
The prosecutor told the court that between December 2022 and April 2024, the company failed to pay the social security contributions of its staff at the Takoradi office to the tune of GH¢4.126 million, an act which constituted an offence under the National Pensions Act, 2008 (ACT 766).
“Failing to pay social security contributions contrary to Section 83 (1)(d)(h) of the National Pensions Act, 2008 (ACT 766) as amended by Section 7 of the National Pensions (Amendment) ACT 2014 (ACT 883) is an offence,” the prosecution averred.
Ms Annan said the first accused, the Managing Director of Ghana Railways Corporation, and the second accused, the entity, which had its headquarters at the Takoradi Harbour, failed to satisfy that provision in the act.
Inspection
She said an inspection conducted by officers of the Trust on the second accused’s establishment revealed that as of April 2024, the second accused person had failed to pay the contributions.
SSNIT, the prosecutor said, served demand letters on the accused person and the company, requesting a meeting between the Trust and the management of the corporation to discuss terms of settlement of their indebtedness, to which they failed to show up.
“Officers of the Trust subsequently visited the premises of the Ghana Railways Corporation on two occasions in an attempt to engage the management of the corporation and also retrieve a part of their indebtedness,” she told the court.
Ms Annan, however, said all efforts made to ensure early and amicable settlement proved futile leading to the issuance of a criminal summons served on the first and second accused to appear in court.
She said the refusal to appear had led to the application of the bench warrant for his arrest. The case has been adjourned to July 8, this year.
Credit: Graphic Online
