Amongi Vs Among On NSSF
Speaker of Parliament Anita Among says she will constitute a select committee on Monday 23rd January to investigate the operations of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF)
This was after the Minister of Gender Labour and Social Development Betty Amongi appeared on the floor of Parliament to explain the status of NSSF which has been in the news lately for the alleged abuse of funds.
Speaker of Parliament Anita Among who chaired this session of Parliament said that the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) holds huge funds on behalf of Ugandans. She noted that Parliament which represents the people, cannot just look on when there are allegations of abuse of workers funds at NSSF
Earlier, the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Betty Amongi appeared before Parliament to explain the ongoing controversies at NSSF. She insisted that members’ savings are safe as they were five years ago and are invested as fixed income, equities and in real estate.
Minister Amongi stated that the fixed income portfolio is invested in government bonds, which are the safest investment instruments for they are guaranteed by sovereign governments, adding that by the end of December 2022, fixed income constituted 78 per cent of the NSSF investment portfolio, equities 15 per cent and real estate, seven per cent
Amongi added that although President Yoweri Museveni and the NSSF Board had recommended the reappointment of Richard Byarugaba as Managing Director and Patrick Ayota as his deputy, several petitions on alleged mismanagement and corruption made her suspend the process.
When the MPs asked her about a document circulating on social media claiming that she met General Saleh the National Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation and discussed the use of NSSF funds, Amongi said she was not aware of the document.
Rising on the matter, some MPs said that the documents tabled by the minister raised key issues that Parliament should critically consider.
The media has been awash with allegations of corruption and mismanagement of NSSF which holds 17.9 trillion shs of workers’ savings. The controversy revolved around the reappointment of the then Managing Director, Richard Byarugaba who had attained the mandatory retirement age of age of 60 and had already served two terms.
