KAMPALA – The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has said the delayed passing of the amended NSSF Bill continues to lock out voluntary savers as well the Fund’s desire to expand its reach.
Mr Richard Byarugaba, the NSSF managing director, while speaking during the Fund’s fourth regional members’ meeting in Jinja District, said the Bill which is currently before Parliament, seeks to expand the Fund’s coverage through voluntary contributions.
The Bill also seeks to provide NSSF with a window through which it can build better products for savers.
“We want the new law to make it possible for one to add on the money a saver can save. Secondly, we want the law to diversify our products. Currently, most of our products are designed for age benefi-ciaries,” he said, noting NSSF members should be able to access a number of products such as housing and medical insurance cover, among others.
Members’ remittances, according to Mr Godfrey Ssajabbi Waiswa, the NSSF head of business, said have grown to Shs110b per month (Shs5b per day) with about Shs2b collected from individuals.
About 97 per cent of the Fund’s members, Mr Ssajabbi said, live long enough to claim their money while just 3 per cent is paid to survivors.
NSSF is currently paying out Shs50 billion per month to beneficiaries, up from Shs44b in 2018. The growth represents a 13.6 per cent raise, according to Mr Apollo Mbowa, the NSSF customer finance advisor.
“Averaging from around September when we held our annual general meeting, we have been paying out Shs50b, up from Shs44b to members monthly,” he said, noting that the surge has mainly been due to growth in interest as well claims coming from members who have saved for a long time.
