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PHOTO: From left; Barbra Arimi, Dr. Kimbowa, MD Ayota and Mr. Ssenyonjo

NEWS EDITOR MEDIA

The Parliament Select Committee report on status of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) found no evidence that member funds were stolen or misused by the Board or Management.
Announcing the Fund’s response to the Parliament report for the first time, NSSF Board Chairman Dr. Peter Kimbowa commonly known as Dr. PK told media at Workers House in Kampala today Monday, March 13, 2023, that the absence of any such evidence is also an affirmation that members’ savings can be trusted with the Fund.
“First of all, we applaud the Committee; it is not easy to investigate an entity of our size and complexity over a 20-year period in 2 to 3 weeks, but they were able to do so. We, therefore, like to register our appreciation for the rigorous and robust probe.”
He however revealed to the media that, from the report, there is neither evidence nor conclusion that any individual at the Fund had stolen member funds, despite the numerous allegations in the media purporting bribery and mismanagement of Funds.

“In effect, the committee report brings to light the fact that the famous UGX 6Bn was never disbursed, nor was the UGX 1.8Bn shared among board members. The work plans had not been approaved by the Board.” Said Dr. Kimbowa.
He noted that, “The current NSSF Board has not and will not compromise our fiduciary duty to all NSSF members to ensure prudent and profitable management of the Fund.”
On March 01, 2023, the Committee Chairman Hon. Mwine Mpaka presented the report to Parliament whose recommendations were adopted last week on March 09, 2023. The Committee had earlier been selected by the Speaker of Parliament to investigate the alleged mismanagement of N9iiSSF.
Dr. Kimbowa added that the Fund only refrained from responding to the report to enable the Parliamentary process to take its course, but that, should in no way be construde to mean that the Fund agrees with all the contents and conclusions of the report.
“In some instances, we find the report devoid of important context and contains inaccuracies, especially regarding investments. For instance, the Fund has a total of 210 investments, however, only one, the West Nile Golf Club, has lost value. In our opinion, the fact that the Committee had to go back almost two decades to find one investment that has lost value shows that the Fund has had a stellar performance over the years.” Revealed Dr. Peter Kimbowa.
Patrick Micheal Ayota, the Acting Managing Director NSSF also said that whereas the report highlights areas where the Fund must improve, the Committee did not consider the context or information provided in many instances.
Before any funds are committed, Ayota said, the user department must provide justification for the procurement process to commence or satisfy the Accounting Officer, among others, of the value for money. Just because an item appears on the budget does not mean the money has to be spent.
“Because of this, the Committee assumed that budgeting means spending at the Fund, which is far from the truth. Budgets are plans that are informed by market assessments.” He informed public.
Ag MD noted that, “Our investment philosophy is guided by the investment Policy and Guidlines, as well as the URBRA Investment Guidelines. One key component is the principle of diversification is a realization that not all investments will perform well all the time.”
Therefore, Ag. MD Ayota said, any fund’s investment performance must therefore be analyzed in terms of the entire portfolio, rather than cherry-picking as the committee did. An analysis of the Fund’s investment portfolio over the last 12 years shows consistent growth of the assets and a competitive return.
He also pointed out that the Fund noted instances where the committee appears to not have considered the facts availed by the Fund.
For example, the issue of onboarding of Geomapping technology to help the Fund easily trace employers. We cearly demonstrated that the technology is fully operational and there is value for money. 
Other areas where the committee did not consider facts include payment of perfomance bonus, Corporate Social Responsibility, penalty waivers and legacy investments like West Nile Golf Club and Workers House land title.
Ayota saidthat the committee agreed that the facts about the Fund’s performance are indisputable and assured NSSF members and the public of the Board and Management’s commitment to ensuring the security and safety of members’ savings.

NSSF’S DECADE OF GROWTH: FACTS & FIGURES
● The Fund’s Assets Under Management have increased from UGX 1.7 Trillion to UGX 18 Trillion in just 12 years.
● NSSF is the only noteworthy mobiliser of large pool of a long-term domestic8 capital for development funding which has enabled the Government to become less reliant on foreign capital.
● NSSF has consistently grown the value of members’ savings by paying a real return, better than other peers in the region.
●  NSSF has the lowest cost of adminitration at 1.17% , not among peers in the region but better than the gobal benchmark of 2.20% 
● Through efficient systems, the Fund pays all qualifying members their benefits when they are due in just 7 days on average.
The press briefing was conducted by Ms. Barbra Arimi, Head Marketing and Corporate Affairs. Other officials present were Mr. Edward Ssenyonjo the Chief risk officer, Agnes corporate secretary and Milton Owol Head Human Resource.

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PHOTO: When marathon was organised to raise UGX 5 billion to set up a rehabilitation centre for migrant workers

NEWS EDITOR MEDIA
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OVER 100 licenced external labour companies that do recruitment have parted ways from older Association called Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA), 
and formed a new one called External Labour Agencies of Uganda (ELAU) headed by Mwesigwa Tomson, accusing Chairman Baker Akatambira and Secretary General Winnie Catherine Banura of mismagement of funds, corruption and abuse of office.
ELAU is now questioning how leaders in UAERA obtained Certificates of Good Conduct from Interpol saying they are not supposed to even be members of the Association since they are on record as criminals.
ELAU members who included Nyakwera Nadia and Milton Omurwok told this investigative online news website how they can no longer work under UAERA leaders who have totally failed to protect and observe the welfare of migrant workers. Due to vulnerability and the surging levels of unemployment in the country, Ugandans especially the youth, have opted to leave the country in search of better-paying jobs.
For starters, UAERA is an umbrella body incorporated in 2013 with an aim of bringing together all licenced labour export companies as a coalition to advocate for better operations of its members.
The Association initially started Thirteen (13) out of the Forty (40) registered companies at the time and grew its membership to Two Hundred Seventy (270) members out of Three Hundred and forty (340) licenced external labour recruitment companies that are registered and supervised by the ministry of Gender, labour and social development.
In a letter to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social development (MoGLSD), external labour companies which formed new Association ELAU said, they were fed up of UAERA leaders faulting them of not being bothered about the welfare principle of the migrant workers and they were more even concerned and interested in how best they can ripple off these migrant workers which saw them getting in very dubious deals which are against the articles the Association.
The letter to MoGLSD reads, “To UAERA, it was not as in how best do i help the migrant workers but rather it was how best do i ripple off the migrant worker.”
“So as Members of UAERA, when we realised this act, we were not happy, and we thought we could bring sanity and order to this sector. Whereby, we had to. So, what we did as Members of UAERA, we demanded that we should have an explanation over the same upon getting proof of the involvement in acts that contradict the articles of the association.” Reads a letter by external labour companies which later broke away from UAERA.
ELAU says, UAERA chairman and the secretary general were directly involved in dubious deals which in return affect migrant workers, they decided to part ways.
Under the External recruitment regulations, ELAU told Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, a person with criminal record is not allowed to own or even be involved in management of affairs of a recruitment firm. 
Their letter says, “The Chairman Baker Akatambira, for example is criminal convict and therefore barred from occupying any public office. He was convicted by Anti Corruption Court on a criminal offence in Uganda vs Akantambira Baker, Criminal case number 0089/2014 on 24/9/2014. The record of this matter is available for the public to confirm.” ELAU reasoned that they couldnt continue being under office occupied by people with criminal record.
Member companies in the new Association believes that UAERA failed to fulfill their mandate, instead the association is ful of corruption and abuse of office, Mismanagement of Association funds, human trafficking allegations against members, denial of freedom of expression of member, among others .

HERE IS WHY 100 CAMPANIES FORMED ELAU 
● Protect and observe the welfare of migrant workers
● Regulate and ensure strict adherence to the code of conduct laws, regulations and giidelines set by the ministry of Labour.
● Promote the collective business interests of members while protecting the best interest of our customers and migrant workers.
● Ensure transparency, build confidence in the public and make the business attractive and sustainable.
● Review the concerns of UAERA members and act on their behalf in the persuit of solutions to problems related to recruitment.
● Promote the postive image of the association and its members and engage with the ministry on issues of common interest to the members and association.

Break away companies say, UAERA leaders who were supposed to be a mirror of the association, instead became agents of foreigners, “An act which caused more suffering of our boys and girls following the increasing cash flow in the association, the leadership of UEARA deviated from the objectives and interests of the association and ventured into promoting and working towards achieving their individual interests and abusing their offices.”
The leadership failure to improve the sector resulted into members’ total disregard of the sector rules and engaging in illegal business that resulted into deterioration of working conditions of the migrant workers and greatly affected the business and image of the country not only in Africa but also in the entire world.

GRIEVANCES WHICH RESULTED INTO BREAK AWAY OF ELAU AS TOLD TO MINISTRY OF LABOUR
Corruption and Abuse of Office
The Association leadership lost grip of traits of leaders and focussed on satisfying themselves as individuals at the expense of the members. They engaged in extortion of funds and using their positions to benefit themselves and establishing cartels to foster theit objects and torment those who criticize their behaviours.
For example; Exorting members by requiring them to pay exhorbitant fees on Yellow fever clearances.
The leadership headed by the Chairman Mr. Baker Akantambira and the Secretary General Winnie Cstherine Banura were allegedly involved in systematic extortion and racketeering by creation of a monopoly company ARLHU that extorts and controls providers of yellow fever vaccination. This saw the cost of yellow fever vaccination cards increase from UGX 40,000 (Forty Thousand shillings) and UGX 60,000 (Sixty Thousand Shillings) to UGX 80,000 (Eighty Thousand Shillings) and UGX 120,000 (One hundred twenty thousand  shillings) respectively. They further downsized the number of clinics offering the size to 16, accredited to carry out the vaccination. 

Mismanagement of Association Funds
UAERA activities are usually funded by members’ money. This money is acquired from membership fees, subscription, donations, Budget support from members and other sources. It is meant for supporting the secretariat and paying for running expenses such as rent, salaries and travel costs, etc. Poor management practices resulted in deplation of members’ funds, channeling funds away from planned activities and operating budgets that were approved by members.
UAERA leaders completely refused to provide books of accounts to its members to be able to know how the monies collected are spent however they continue to demand money from members and also go ahead to email them exaggereted invoices to fund the association.
UAERA liabilities have been growing over the years from 800 Million in 2020 to 1.2 Bn in the year 2022 despite members’ contribution of funds to offset the liabilities. This is a derivative of the Mismanagement of members’ funds associated with the misuse and potential loss of funds which raises questions about the integrity of the leaders in charge of the funds. Misappropriation constitutes a deliberate act of the misuse of money.
The UAERA leadership has largely engaged itself in the mismagement of member funds paid to the association whereby, at one-point month, the landlord locked the premises of UAERA for non-payment of rent. This was very embarrassing to the sector and members who contribute generously a fee of two million five hundred thousand shillings to the association UGX 2,500,000/= (Two Million and Five Hundred Thousand Shillings) This misuse of funds is clearly brought out in the auditor’s report.

Human Trafficking Allegations Against Members
The Chairman, Secretary General and their cartel after successfully imposing 20,000/= on every Ugandan engaged in yet another risky business of human trafficking. They wanted to introduce another desk at the international airport in the disguise of curbing human trafficking which would require every traveller to pay 30 dollars for monitoring. 
UAERA leaders lied to different labour export companies that AEHLU team found traffickers using their license and also in possesssion of yellow fever cards and asked them to file charges against the clinic owners and asked them to serve a copy to the Permanent Secretary MoGLSD and the OC Station Entebbe Aviation Police.
This saw their cartel release a number of documents on UAERA platform supporting their fraudulent move authored by the Presidential Advisor to the Diaspora Affairs Ambassador Walusimbi. Followed by other subsquent letters to justify their creation of their sinister motives which plan was countered by the respective Doctors through their Association, Yellow Fever Accredited Facilities Association filed a petition against the Chairman and the Secretary General respectively in Anti-corruption Court. 
Despite the fact that all members pay equal contribution to the Association, the leadership is consolidated among a small group of those who started thd Association. They continue to use their power to keep other members with limited rights and mandate.

Denial of Freedom of Expression to members
Article 29 (1) (a) of the Constitution guarantees Freedom of Expression. However, the leadership of UAERA does not allow its members to freely express themselves whereby, the Vice Chairman of UAERA Bogere Ibrahim on 17th January 2023 wrote to all members instructing them to desist from making any comments about the yellow fever saga against the Chairman and Secretary General. And those who made an attempt to, were immediately ejected from the UAERA official platform an act that contravenes the provisions of freedom of expression. 

Lack of corporate governance
An Association like UAERA is required to exhibit high moral aspects of corporate governance and implement all the tenets of a good board. This would account for transparency, independence, acciuntability and pay attention to risk aversion in the company. 
Instead of attending to the demands of the day, our board has damaged the Association internally and potentially caused external negative publicity. The board state shows lack of confidentiality, conflicting agendas, lack of order, lack of respect for others, promotes a hostile environment, creates secret meetings, foster personal agendas, has a lack of trust, and creating an environment of dominating members plus non participating members.
The board only serve to rubber stamp what some Associations personalities want and acts as a cheerleader. The board micromanaged the affairs of the secretariat by erroneously assuming key management functions and only uphold the chief executive as a manager of individual agenda with no power to make independent decisions. The board runs fully thd affairs of the secretariat including all the funds.
The board works in a balkanized fashin, and concerned with only finances and not holistic operations. They do not regularly assess their performance and embody professional standards. The board has been reluctant to discuss strategy, inability to deal with disruptive behaviour by the Chairman and Secretary General a structure that creates confusion.

Wait for Part II of the story!

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PHOTO: When NSSF officially launched online benefits claim on the NSSFGo App and web. Members who qualify for withdrawal of their savings can submit and track their claims without leaving the comfort of their homes!

NEWS EDITOR MEDIA

NATIONAL Social Security Fund (NSSF) Head Marketing and Corporate Affairs Ms. Arimi Barbra Teddy has responded to a 16 question dossier by a one Rogers Wandulu, who made rounds on social media alleging how unsafe are savings in NSSF.
In a three page response, Ms. Arimi tells Wandulu and all members of NSSF to worry not, their money is bery safe and growing! 
Responding to Wandulu, Ms. Barbra Arimi has categorically stated that, “You and all our members remain at the centre of our strategy to ensure safety and a reasonable return for your savings. Every single day, every employee of the Fund works hard to create a better life for our members.”
“For this reason,” She says, “We have kept our promise to consistently pay you a return above the average 10-year inflation over the last 11 years.”
This is how Ms. Arimi has explained and gave Wandulu facts pertaining the 16 issues he raised in his dossier! Please read on;

1. ● Wandulu alleged that over 80 NSSF staff enjoyed trip to Dubai. On this Barbra Arimi says, this was done in line with the Fund Human Resources Policy to drive high performance. 
2. ● That Board Chairman hired consultant at 60m to increase his pay to 30m. NSSF in its response says, the procurement was done by Management in line with the applicable PPDA processes. The engagement of a consultant was to enable the Fund to obtain an independent and informed opinion based on a comprehensive assessment of board remuneration terms for comparable entities locally and in the region. The Board Chairman’s compensation is way below the 30M you mention.. 
3. ● His third allegation of low interest rate for members, Ms. Arimi said this is not true. “The Fund paid interest of 15% in 2017/18, 11% in 2018/19, 10.75% in 2019/20, 12.15% in 2020/21 and 9.65% in 2021/22. Compared to its peers in the region, this is the highest return any social security Fund gives, and very competitive.” Said Arimi adding thst, “Suffice to note, the Fund’s performance has even been complimented across the region.”
   She noted that, as mentioned above, “We have kept our promise to consistently pay our members a return above the average 
   10-year inflation over the last 11 years.”
4. ● On allegation that Staff were given as much as 1bn shs to exit voluntarily, NSSF boss says, Staff who lost their jobs during the recent restructuring process were compensated in line with standard labour practices. The required approvals for the exit packages were obtained.
5. ● On the issue of MD making free donations in Billions, Ms. Arimi said the highest donation made by the Fund so far has been UGX 380M in 2020 towards Covid test kits in a bid to support the Government’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
6. ● About NSSF MD rescuing Uganda clays with 10bn, and turning into a written off debt, NSSF calls this a lie. This loan has not been written off. The Fund, a significant shareholder in Uganda Clays Limited, advanced a loan to the company to expand its operations and save it from collapse. The Board, and the then Minister of Finance, Planning & Economic Development approved the loan. Uganda Clays Limited has since turned around, is now profitable and the Fund is in the process of recovering the debt. 
7. ● Wandulu talked about the travel to purchase cards and machines worth Billions that won’t work. Resoinding to this issue, NSSF has said, in 2013, the Fund piloted a Smart Card project. The pilot did not achieve its objectives. Lessons from this pilot were used by the Fund to introduce a new Smart Card in partnership with Visa and Centenary Bank. The cost and integration of this new card project has been borne by the partners. 
   Members now have a new 3 in 1 Smart Card, which embeds NSSF functionality, bank functionality and a loyalty program which enables card holders to access discounts at select merchant outlets.
8. ● Allegation eight, Wandulu said Fake trade unions are enjoying  Billions in Budget. Here NSSF says, The Fund’s combined total donations to trade unions over the last 5 years does not add up to a billion shillings. 
9. ● On the issue of Heads of Department hiring /supervising relatives, Ms. Barbra Arimi categorically stated that, recruitment in the Fund is guided by the Human Resources Policy which is geared towards attracting competent workforce. There are clear provisions in the Policy on Conflict-of-Interest situations including recruitment of related parties which are observed during the recruitment process.
10. ● Wandulu said Board meetings are held in Dubai and Nairobi. NSSF says, Board meetings are usually held in the country. The Board meeting held in Nairobi in 2022 was an exception. It was held alongside a full Board training session. The purpose of the joint scheduling was/is to efficiently utilize board members’ and other concerned stakeholders’ time. This is not an unusual practice for most boards.
11. ● On the allegation of no accountability on donations/CSR, Ms. Arimi said Funds allocated to Corporate Social Responsibility activities like the refurbishment of public schools, national blood drives, sports, Career Expo, digital labs are fully accounted for and reports for the same are available.
12. ● The raised issue of Billions given to staff in so called Early bird Exit, NSSF referred this to response no 4 above), 
13. ● That the Board is paid NSSF, Medical just like staff. Ms. Barbra Arimi says, The Board’s terms of engagement, including the medical benefit, are duly considered and approved by their appointing authority.
14. ● Wandulu alleged that exiting Board members paid each 350m for time not worked. On this, NSSF boss clarified that the amount was a gross sum of UGX 312M each arrived at by the Board in consultation with its appointing authority at the time, for purposes of addressing a concern emanating from the Executive and Legislative arms of Government about the Board’s composition. The circumstances of this matter are being reviewed by the relevant authorities. 
15. ● On the issue of Investments not made in Savers interest, Houses members can’t afford, Ms. Arimi states that all Fund investments are made in the savers’ interest in line with the Fund’s prudent Investments Policy as approved by the Board and aligned to the investment guidelines of the Fund’s Regulator, the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority. “Furthermore, real estate is an asset class that the Fund primarily invests in to generate income either from rent or sale of the units, which income is credited to members’ accounts at the end of each financial year.” She said, adding that, “Suffice to note, the Fund’s various housing projects cater for all, from high income earners (Lubowa), middle income earners (Lubowa, Kyanja) and low-income earners (Temangalo). The house prices in Temangalo are projected to range from UGX 90M upon completion in 2024.”
16. ● About Wandulu’s false prophesy that the Fund will collapse if it pays out Midterm access,  NSSF says, “On midterm access, the Fund did not collapse when it paid out over UGX 636M to 27,934 qualifying members for midterm access in 2022. Savers now do not have to wait until 55 years to access their savings.”
    In her conclusion, Head Marketing and Corporate Affairs Ms. Arimi Barbra Teddy reassured NSSF members how the team at NSSF, “Will remain committed to preserving your retirement savings.”

ABOUT NSSF 
The National Social Security Fund Uganda is a multi-trillion Fund mandated by Government through the NSSF Act, as amended, to provide social security services to employees in the private sector. 
The Fund is a secure, innovative, and dynamic social security provider that guarantees safety, security, and a competitive return on members’ savings of over 2% above the 10-year inflation average. 
The Fund manages assets worth over UGX 17.8 trillion, invested in Fixed Income, Equities and Real Estate assets within the East Africa region. As the largest Fund in East Africa by value, we have the ambitious goal of growing our Assets Under Management to 20 trillion by 2025.  
The Fund is regulated by the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority while the Minister of Gender, Labour & Social Development, and the Minister of Finance, Planning & Economic Development are responsible for policy oversight.

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