NSSF targets 1.2m new members in next five years
The Chairman Board of Directors at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Mr Peter Kimbowa (left), and NSSF Acting Managing Director Patrick Ayota address the media in Kampala on March 14, 2023. PHOTO/ ISAAC KASMANI
What you need to know:
- Registration with NSSF for all employers in Uganda begun March and will run up to April 28, 2023.
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has set a target of registering 50,000 new employers and 1.2 million new members over the next five years.
According to the Fund, the ambition is in line with its policy of expanding social security coverage in the country to enable more people save for the future following as per some amendments of the NSSF Act, 2022.
Some amendments of the act, specifically sections 7 and 13A introduced mandatory contributions by all workers regardless of the size of the enterprises or the number of employees- and obligate NSSF to strengthen compliance with the law.
“I am pleased to note that since the law was passed, we have seen over 3,200 employers with less than 5 employees register with, and contribute the NSSF,” acting NSSF managing director Patrick Ayota said on Tuesday.
“We have also noted that a number of employers are still note registered with the fund,” he added at a press briefing during the launch of employer registration at Worker’s House in Kampala.
Registration with NSSF for all employers in Uganda begun March and will run up to April 28, 2023.
“We call upon unregistered employers across the country to take advantage of the next 30 days to regularise their status with the fund and avoid the penalty associated with registering late,” Ayota remarked.
Ayota further warned that once this window closes, late registration will attract a penalty of 10 percent of the Shs75,000 that each employee of a particular company is supposed to contribute to NSSF.
Speaking at the same event, Uganda Law Society (ULS) Chief Executive Officer Moses Okwalinga Opolot urged employers to comply.
“In practice, the penalty for noncompliance with NSSF is very burdensome because it is compounded every month if an entity does not pay,” he said.
The executive director of the Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises-Uganda, John Walugembe encouraged NSSF to intensify public education about the mandatory contributions so that they can understand its benefits to them.
