Opanyin Kwabena Nkrumah, 103 years from Adansi Atobiase, volunteered as one of the cocoa farmers who showed up at the early hours on the first day of the Pilot Registration exercise of the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme.
After spending about 10 minutes to complete the enrolment process, Opayin Nkrumah was enthused at the process and advised the youth who are into cocoa farming to seize the opportunity to register with the scheme at an early age to enable them to contribute for more years to enjoy hefty and decent pension.
“Look at me, at my age, I still harvest and sell cocoa. I have been farming for over 50 years. I still love cocoa farming and the pension scheme is just a step in the right direction. We have been waiting for it for long and we are grateful to the government for it,” he said.
Speaking on the age limit to sign on to the Scheme, Mr. Arnold Mensa-Bonsu, an IT Consultant working with the Implementation Team said there is no age limit to register as long as you are a cocoa farmer and can prove with the Cocoa Card.
“Actually, there is no age limit to register. However, for a farmer who joins at an age lower than 50, they will be eligible for retirement at 55 years but those who join at age 50 and above, they are eligible for retirement after five years,” he disclosed.
The Chairman of the Implementation Committee, Mr. Charles Osei-Akoto in an interview with the media indicated that farmers have the opportunity to nominate beneficiaries during the registration process.
Meanwhile, the 14-day exercise involving some 2,800 volunteer farmers is expected to provide useful feedback to improve upon the designed operational framework for a smooth take-off in October this year.
The institution of the farmers’ pension scheme fulfils provisions in the Ghana Cocoa Board Law 1984 (PNDC Law 81) which enjoin the Board of Directors of COCOBOD to ensure a scheme that guarantees a decent pension for our farmers.