National Social Security Fund has said it cannot be party to any partial payments to members to deal with the current financial constraints caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
A number of people, including opposition strongman and former Forum for Democratic Change president, Dr.Kizza Besigye have always asked NSSF to allow members access part of their savings to deal with the current crisis.
“If there is any legal impediment, parliament can sit and sort it out. This is a world crisis of unprecedented proportions,”Besigye said early this week.
However, in a statement, NSSF Managing Director, Richard Byarugaba has said this is not possible in any way.
“NSSF is a social security scheme created to provide a safety net for members in case of old age, permanent incapacitation or for defendants in case of death of a member. The current pandemic does not meet any of the above criteria,”Byarugaba said.
He explained that even if they had decided to pay members, it would be discriminatory because only 1.5 million people are members and this would mean that a majority 19 million working population would not be getting anything because they are not members of NSSF.
“About 80% of the fund’s assets are invested in government treasury bonds .If the fund was to pay all its members a portion of their savings, it would amount to government buying back its bonds to raise liquidity.”
He said this would leave government short of locally mobilized funds for its social and economic interventions; a situation he noted would have more devastating effects on the economy.
“We are confident that government is putting in place measures to lessen the economic impact caused by the covid-19 pandemic.”
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, a number of economies around the world, Uganda inclusive have suffered devastating effects.
Locally, a number of people have for the past one week been staying home to avoid large crowds that would be a fertile ground for the spread of the pandemic as advised by government.