The National Social Social Security Fund -NSSF together with the Ministry of Gender have pledged to expedite a statutory instrument that will ease access to savings by Ugandan workers.
The commitment follows the enactment of the NSSF (Amendment) Bill which was assented to by President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday. The Bill will grant midterm access to savings for employees aged 45 years and above, who have saved for at least 10-years with NSSF.
The law requires that after the President has assented to the Bill, it should be published in the National Gazette, and within 60 days, the Minister, in consultation with the workers should make a statutory instrument to guide on the appropriate ways the beneficiaries can access their savings.
While addressing journalists on Wednesday at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala, Gender Minister Betty Amongi said that the Ministry is already in the advanced stages of drafting the regulations that shall be tabled before Parliament for approval on terms and conditions of accessing the funds.
The law also grants an opportunity for persons with disabilities who have clocked at least 40-years and have saved with the scheme for 10-years, midterm access to 50 per cent of their savings.
The new Act has also been expanded to create new opportunities for employers to contribute to NSSF for all their workers irrespective of the number, unlike in the previous law where companies with less than five employees were exempted from contributing savings for their employees.
Meanwhile, Dr Peter Kimbowa, the NSSF Chairman Board of Directors reiterated that they have already earmarked 92.5 billion Uganda Shillings to offset the benefits of at least 899 eligible workers in the financial year 2021/2022.
However, some workers URN spoke to expressed mixed reactions. Alex Onek, who has been saving with the scheme since 2009 says the 45 years restriction should have been eliminated to allow access to the money by anyone who has been saving.
Jane Acola, who works as a Project Coordinator with the AIDS Information Centre in Lira says she has saved with NSSF for the last 12 years and the new law is a milestone, but wished that the Bill should have considered everyone who has saved for a decade irrespective of their age.
The NSSF Bill was first passed by the 10th Parliament in February 2021. However, it was returned to the House by the President after he rejected Parliament’s vote that the Ministry of Finance holds the supervisory role of the fund instead of of the Labour Ministry to eliminate bureaucracies in decision making.