Commentary National Social Security Schemes A National Social assistance Scheme is expected to be a flagship welfare program in developing countries .It is to provide assistance to its citizenry in case of unemployment, old age, sickness, disablement and in other cases of undeserved want within the limit of its economic capacity and development. The scheme is a great step towards achieving the directive principle in the constitution and seeks to protect the welfare of the people. In Sierra Leone, the National Social Security and Insurance Trust is administered by a Board under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Although the beneficiaries hail from either urban or rural areas, the National Old Age Pension Scheme is expected to provide a pension for the elderly who live below the poverty line. These beneficiaries are between the ages of 60-65. In case of the death of the primary bread winner of a household living below poverty line conditions, a lump sum is provided. The National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) was a model for Sierra Leone aimed at alleviating the plights of retirees after working for so many years. This was a very laudable venture for the aged. Most Sierra Leoneans end up being beggars as if they never work in their prime time. Retirement age should be a time of comfort and not a stressful one as is the case with many Sierra Leoneans who have retired. So when President Kabba (Late) spearheaded the formation of the Trust, he had in mind the sufferings of these categories of Sierra Leoneans. He himself came from the civil service before working for the United Nations only to return home to win the Presidency. His legacy lives on as the man who set up NASSIT. The Trust started on a sound footing during the reign of its first Director General, the late Ghanaian and then Edmond Koroma, now Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. Things were running smooth until President Koroma replaced him with Sam Bangura. At this point, the Trust experienced a whole lot of problems ranging from low morale to internal wrangling. Albeit these hiccup, the Trust still stood the test of time by being one of the most vibrant government institutions. The trust has a lot to offer the people of this country and there is every need for their investments to create an impact. These investments should be purely centered on alleviating the plight of citizens. Most contributors to the Trust are some of the least earners in the country. This is where the trust needs to come in in order to create an even society. NASSIT was established by an Act of Parliament in 2001 to administer the country’s pension scheme by providing retirement and other benefits to meet the contingency needs of workers, their dependants and other relative matters. The scheme also covers the most fundamental contingencies of old age, invalidity, death and also pays old age retirement, invalidity and survivors benefits on the occurrence of a contingency. The trust now administers the payment of pension for all government workers and embarks on its core function of collecting contributions and paying pensions to all valid NASSIT subscribers. The Act gives the Trust the mandate to invest any part of the fund that is not immediately required to be expended, taking into consideration safety, yield, liquidity and the need to maintain the real value and spread of the investment in harmony with public interest. That such investments proposal is vetted by committees before they are submitted to the Board of Trustees comprising government, employer and employee representatives for approval. So the staff of the Trust cannot all by themselves approve any investment because the Act does not give them that legitimacy. Every investment has to go through the Board and several other stages before it becomes legal.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 09:54:00 +0000
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