Henry Mukasa
5 October 2008
Kampala — FINANCE minister Dr. Ezra Suruma has asked the trade unions to forward names of people to be included on the board of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
In a letter to the leadership of the National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) and the Central Organisation of Free Trade Unions (COFTU), Suruma invited them to submit the names of four people of high integrity.
"I am pleased to invite you to submit nominations of persons to be considered for appointment to the board of the National Social Security Fund," the minister wrote on September 29.
"The Cabinet has approved four positions for workers on the board. The recommendation of a cabinet sub-committee to raise that number to five is yet to be considered by the cabinet."
The minister outlined the qualifications for board membership as high level of integrity and no history of fraud or bankruptcy.
The nominees must also have the ability to understand financial matters, such as investment and financial statements like a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet. The candidates should also have an appreciation of social security and pension matters. A college degree is not mandatory but is highly recommended as a minimum requirement, Suruma wrote.
The minister told journalists at the Media Centre on Saturday that he would forward the names to the Cabinet for approval.
Asked for a comment, workers' MP Sam Lyomoki said the minister was only implementing the recommendations of the cabinet sub-committee.
Suruma said the two trade unions had already met to draw guidelines on how the workers' representatives to the NSSF board would be picked and design a framework within which they would operate.
"They must be people who will defend the workers' interests without fear or favour and we shall have a provision to recall them if they let down the workers," Lyomoki said, adding that they had agreed to expedite the process.
The composition of the NSSF board has been in the spotlight since a parliamentary committee began its probe into the purchase of 463 acres of land in Temangalo from businessman Amos Nzeyi and Arma Limited, a company linked to security minister Amama Mbabazi.
The committee is investigating whether there was political pressure on NSSF from Mbabazi, whether there was value for money and whether the procedures were followed.
The unions had demanded pension reforms, the dissolution of the board, as well as the suspension of the NSSF managing director, David Chandi Jamwa, and his deputy, Mondo Kagonyera. They had threatened to organise a nationwide demonstration if their demands were not met.
A cabinet sub-committee, chaired by the Vice-President, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, on September 24 recommended that Suruma wields the axe on the management and board of NSSF to cool the workers' anger and avert the strike.
However, Suruma on Saturday explained that he defied the directive awaiting a decision from the cabinet. "I was constrained to act in a manner contrary," Suruma said.
"Cabinet decided that they should not be suspended before investigations are complete."
The positions for workers on the NSSF Board were left vacant since 2005 when the Bank of Uganda and the IGG recommended that all board members at the time of the botched Nsimbe Estates deal should not be reappointed.
Asked to submit new names, the trade unions twice sent the names of people who had been on the previous board.
"It was not possible for us to ignore the recommendations of the Bank of Uganda and the IGG," Suruma explained.
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