The Tema Central Constituency has marked the International Day of Older Persons with an award ceremony during which eight pensioners were honoured for their immense contribution towards the development of the constituency.
The ceremony, which brought together over 500 elderly persons on, was organized Monday by the Member of Parliament for Tema Central Constituency, Mr Kofi Brako with the aim of celebrating the achievement of senior citizens in the area.
The awardees were Mr. Austin Gamey, a renowned labour expert, Nana Ampomah, Mrs Theresa Daniels, Mr John Mensah Addo, Mr John Kwesi Dankwah, Mr Frank Acquah, Captain Rtd Fred Tetteh and Mrs Comport Darko.
Addressing the ceremony, Mr Brako congratulated the awardees and all senior citizens for their varied contributions to the progress of the constituency.
He assured them of continuous support, adding that the government recognised the challenges with aging and therefore would continue to take appropriate measures for the welfare of the aged in society.
In addition, he said it was the responsibility of both government and society to support the elderly with better health and counselling services to enable some of them to prevent the risk of depression and social isolation due to their extreme dependency on family and friend.
Mr. Austin Gamey, who is the CEO of Gamey and Gamey Group, lauded the objective of the event, indicating that most societies often ignore the contributions of the aged.
He, however, called on government and other stakeholders to initiative moves to sensitize workers on the need to plan their retirement.
He noted that a good life is not only lived at the prime time, but more importantly has to do “with our investment into our old age so that we do not become overly dependent on other people for our survival.”
He said that a lot of older people who feel they are a burden may also perceive their lives to be less valuable, putting them at risk of depression and social isolation, a situation which can be avoided by taking the right steps for proper planning and investment during working life.
Stressing the need for retirement planning, he reminded workers that pension stipend alone cannot be sufficient for their upkeep as pensioners.
That, he said required the worker invested in other areas, as well as develop skills that they can use to generate some income after active employment.
As part of the awards ceremony, a health talk and counseling session was held for the aged persons.
By ADR Daily Newsdesk
