Kampala — THE National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has lost a sh20b appeal case to Alcon International, a construction firm it had engaged to build the 19-storey Workers House in the heart of Kampala.

While we do not doubt the ability of the NSSF lawyers to defend and perhaps over-turn the ruling in the Supreme Court, it might be a wiser decision to simply pay up Alcon now to avoid further costs in case the last appellant court upholds the Court of Appeal ruling. Basing on the chronology of events, one does not need to be a legal guru to know that the fund stands little chance of succeeding in the Supreme Court.

Alcon sued NSSF for breach of contract in 1998, demanding $28m following the cancellation of its contract. The court referred the case to an arbiter that awarded Alcon $8.8b. NSSF contested the award and instead went to the High Court which dismissed the appeal. It again appealed to the Court of Appeal which made its verdict yesterday in favour of Alcon.

The legal costs in these appeals are estimated at about sh14b and proceeding to the Supreme Court will further escalate the costs should NSSF lose. Plus interests that have accrued for over a decade, the figure could be mind-boggling.

It is, however, not too late to save some of the workers hard-earned money. The board, basing on independent legal opinion last year, agreed that the matter is settled out of court.

The workers of this country have already lost billions of shillings in bogus deals. The Nsimbe Estate project, a joint venture between NSSF and Mugoya Construction, is another time-bomb in waiting for the workers of this country.

The Alcon case should, therefore, be a bitter lesson to NSSF management to be more transparent in their dealings. In the meantime, let NSSF management swallow its pride and pay up Alcon to avoid further losses to the workers.