Pension: Trade union asks private firms to raise standards

Kampala. The National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) has challenged private firms intending to offer pension fund services to design better plans for workers in the event of liberalisation of the sector by government.
In an interview with Daily Monitor on Tuesday, Mr Usher Wilson Owere, the chairman general NOTU, said now that government has retained National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the Public Service pension schemes, private pension fund hoping to join the sector should design tailor made and unique products that add value to clients so that they attract more workers to save for their benefit.

“Government has assured us that they will not repeal NSSF and the Pension Act. These two are critical for us. It means they will remain intact. They will just reform to get the Act amended and let it operate,” he said, adding that the private player can now come and play their role.
“They (new firms) should come with more attractive things than we have here. We want a level playing field for them so that they start the project with good things that benefit workers,” he said, emphasising that when they fought against disbanding NSSF and Public Service pension schemes, they were fighting to see that the two remain intact before new players can be allowed into the sector.

Resilient schemes
Last week, while launching the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority client charter, Finance State minister David Bahati stated that in 2011 when government commenced reforms in the pensions sector, the idea was to disband NSSF and Public service pension schemes so as to allow new players in the sector but they have realised that these two are the only ones that have stood the test of time in the country and they should be retained to guide the reforms in the sector.

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