NSSF policy offers no social security

SIR — I read your Monday article “Government reviews NSSF scheme” with my heart in my mouth. The finance minister, Ezra Suruma says that when people get money in a lumpsum they try business which they have never done and fail because they have been civil servants all their lives.

My experience is that not all civil servants die in civil service. I know many who have abandoned civil service for a more serious business — politics and are doing extremely well.

In short let the people do what they want with their money. If the Government were really concerned about the citizens’ social security we would have a different story to tell about the plight of pensioners today.

There are many examples of Ugandans who have worked diligently for the government and retired honourably but have died like paupers without earning a single shilling from their pension. Why is that?

Then there are blatant examples of political patronage where a few privileged people are given free money and medical treatment abroad on top of their fat salaries because they belong to the “right side” while other people die of preventable diseases! Ugandans will not forget in a hurry the sh5m given to the NRM MPs for “facilitation”.

They will not also forget the sh2.5b given to Specioza Kazibwe nor the sh30b which was spent on a referendum that was absolutely unnecessary. Those are just a few examples but they are enough to illustrate the fact that “social security” for the majority of Ugandans is not an urgent matter for the government in the present scheme of things.

But the most interesting issue is where all this money comes from! I vividly remember an article the New Vision published about two or three years ago about a pensioner called James Bizarwenda, 81 who had worked as a telephone operator as a blind man for 22 years in Fort Portal and had never received a single coin 10 years after retirement.

I know Bizarwenda has not been paid to this day! Is that the Government’s idea of social security? On a conservative estimate, NSSF has more than sh450b today and it is compulsory for big employers to contribute 10 per cent of every employee’s salary while the employee contributes 5 per cent.

What is interesting is that the interest this money accrues is always below inflation rate but still NSSF cannot be liberalised like all the other government businesses! Why? We do not need Adam Smith to tell us that a shilling today is better than a shilling tomorrow.

If social security was really the intention of the Government why can’t NSSF be liberalised and employees allowed to contribute to a pension scheme that makes more economic sense?

Yes, the Government can compel employers and employees to plan for “social security” and make it criminal not to do so but should not dictate that they must contribute to NSSF which is so shamelessly exploitative.

Why should people suffer the prohibitive interests of commercial banks when they need loans while the Government is sitting on their billions?

For one to benefit from one’s NSSF savings, one must be 55 years old or must have been jobless for at least two years! In traditional civil service, the retirement age even goes up to 60 years.

This benefits the government rather than the employee because the government can relax for as long as possible before paying pension which is an employee’s right. Inflation and taxes gobble up most of our money and therefore it is better to get our money in a lumpsum and see what best we can do with it.

Not everybody is a fool! In 1987, people lost a lot of money when the Government knocked two zeros from every figure and reduced everybody’s money by 30 percent.

Therefore, Ugandans are not strangers to suffering as a result of exploitative government policies. Give us our hard-earned money and we will know how best to invest it because there is no evidence that the Government is bothered about the social security of her citizens.

It is only the blue-eyed boys and girls who can live without sweating who enjoy social security. We are better off putting our money in assets than being fooled with a “pension” where our currency is lighter than a feather.

NSSF money should not be treated as free money controlled by draconian laws which benefit everybody else except the lawful beneficiaries who must first go through hell before they can be given their alms. For crying out loud, are there no laws in this country governing public finance?

Aaron Ayebare
Kampala