The National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) on Friday 1st April, 2022 launched its Twentieth Anniversary Celebrations at the Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel in Freetown.
This epoch-making making event brought together the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon Alpha Timbo, the Lord Chief Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards, Justice Sengu Mohamed Koroma, Board of Trustees, Management and staff of NASSIT, Pensioners and members of the Fourth Estate.
Speaking on the theme “A visible NASSIT: Improving efficiency through digitalization for nation development”, the Director General, Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, intimated his audience that Management, over the years, positioned the Scheme on the platform of visibility and awareness-raising to increase public understanding and confidence.
He affirmed that in this age of digitalization, the Scheme was determined to match up with the rising demands of system infrastructure and digital transformation. This, the Director General believed, would enhance the Scheme expansion and improve service delivery.
Strolling through memory lane, Mr. Daboh reminded his audience that the Scheme was borne out of the desire of the then President, Dr Ahmed Tejan Kabba to provide meaningful retirement for employees of this country.
He explained that prior to NASSIT, Sierra Leone experienced a deplorable non-contributory pension system, with an amount that was not only a pittance but was also not forthcoming, thereby making retirement a nightmare for many Sierra Leoneans.
“It was this deplorable situation, coupled with the desire of President Kabba to better the lives of the citizenry, that precipitated the establishment of the Scheme that was launched in January 2002,” he stated.
The Director General added that NASSIT was established as a Statutory Public Trust charged with the responsibility to administer the Sierra Leone national pension scheme to provide retirement and other benefits to meet the contingency needs of workers and their dependants.
Mr. Daboh went on to say that Twenty years on, both present and past employees of the Trust worked relentlessly to achieve this core mandate. “Today, pensioners do not only receive attractive pensions but are also paid on time” he enthused.
On the activities of the celebrations, Mr. Daboh informed the audience that the celebration would continue with a Members’ Conference in May and a Nationwide Quiz Competition for schools in October thisyear, and he called on Sierra Leoneans to support the Scheme for the good of all.
Delivering his keynote address and launching the celebrations, the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Alpha Osman Timbo, described the ceremony as historic and a special moment for him as a principal pioneer of the establishment of the scheme and currently a NASSIT Pensioner.
Taking a historical perspective of the Scheme, the Minister noted that the Trust evolved from the desire of the late President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah to develop a social security scheme that would provide a minimum guarantee of social protection for all workers and their families.
He said after the ten-years brutal civil conflict in Sierra Leone, the NASSIT project was among the most urgent socio-economic policy actions taken by the government to replace the highly disorganised and fragmented social protection system in the country.
He informed the audience that as the Minister of Labour and Industrial Relations then, charged with the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of the Scheme, he witnessed the enormous challenges the scheme faced at its inception.
Commenting on the role of the current government in the area of social protection, the Minister said President Dr. Julius Maada Bio was committed to providing more but required the collective efforts of every Sierra Leonean. He therefore reiterated that it was incumbent on all employers to ensure that their workers were registered and contributions paid on time.
On the Trust’s investments, the Minister told the gathering that as a manifesto promise, His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio instructed the NASSIT administration to conduct a comprehensive audit into the Trust’s investment and its related policies, an exercise which he said had been been concluded and that the Director General of NASSIT had officially presented the Report to his office for onward submission to President Julius Maada Bio for his attention and government’s necessary action.
He assured the Scheme members that the report would be submitted to the President and that it would form the basis for further investment decisions.
The Hon Minister concluded by launching the Twentieth Anniversary Celebrations of the NASSIT Scheme.
NASSIT, WE CARE!
Credit: NASSIT PR UNIT
