On Saturday the 11th December 2020 at the Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel Aberdeen, Freetown, the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) organized an Award giving ceremony in which several personalities in both public and the private sectors were awarded base on their contribution to the development of the Trust.
In his opening remarks the Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Omez Kobina Walker expressed his delight to all work of lives that were present at the ceremony as he apologised for starting the programme late.
In his welcome address, the acting GM of Operations, NASSIT, stated that the idea of the Banquet and award giving ceremony is rooted from the ingenuity of the Director General to interface with employers and to recognise their valuable contribution to the sustainable development of Social Security in Sierra Leone.
‘’It is not gain saying that you play a crucial role in the development of our scheme, not only through the timely registration of your establishment, your employees but also paying social security contributions and allowing us to visit your premises to carry out routine inspections’’, he noted.
He furthered that the Trust is determined to collaborate with its partners in ensuring that they have a clear understanding of their role in the scheme, saying that social security rights are human rights.
Speaking on behalf of the Sierra Leone Employer Federation, president of the Federation, Mr. Omez Walker who doubles as the chairman of the ceremony said that since the beginning of this year many employees do not work on a full time basis as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic and that they observed that there is a drastic reduction in the progress of several businesses
According to him the Minister of Finance noted that Sierra Leone economy is projected to contract by 2.8 % this year rather than the 3.1 % projected in the early days of the Covid 19 pandemic and that his institution has submitted a position paper to government, highlighting and suggestion measures to be taking by the government to reduce the impact of covid 19 on employers and employees and that they are happy that government is taking their recommendation into consideration.
He maintained that NASSIT will not only recognise employers who are their client but will also endeavour to serve employers who under difficult circumstances have avoided shutdown, redundancy and continued to serve the NASSIT scheme and that the federation will continue to partner with NASSIT to enable the Trust meets its thirty three obligations.
The chairman Parliamentary Oversight Committee Labour refers to NASSIT as a viable institution whose responsibility is to ensure the security of people who have work for the rest of their lives. He stated that over the years the committee has been working with the Trust to ensure this responsibility is met by the Trust. He assured the Trust their committee will work assiduously to disseminate to its people the role and advantage of the NASSIT scheme to them. He further commended the Director General of the Trust on his diligent and determination in making the Trust a success.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Hinga Sandy thanked NASSIT for their remarkable and tremendous work and that he is very happy to see growth in development translate into growth in business. He urged employers to comply with the NASSIT scheme as according to him it is very important for the development of the employees.
He stated that Government has recently signed a $40 million dollars contact for the support of businesses especially those that are affected by the Covid 19 pandemic.
Alpha Timbo, the Minister of Labour and Social Security stated that some eighteen years ago the then President Alhaji Tejan Kabba propounded the idea of establishing a National Social Security Trust, saying that the objective for which the Trust is established is to make sure the received from employers from their work and that NASSIT have the responsibility to register employees of an organization and to ensure the keep records of these employee so as to received their benefit and on time. He continued by commending the Director General on his hard work in ensuring that the Trust maintains its integrity.
He said that the president H E Bio attached huge interest to the Trust and that as a Ministry they are always ready to support the mandate of NASSIT, saying that unlike the previous government, they as a government are prepared to pay the NASSIT contributions for their workers and on time.
He ended his statement by congratulating all those that were going to receive their awards.
The NASSIT Director General Dr. Mohamed Faud Daboh thanked those present at the ceremony for honouring their invitation and to allow him speak on the role of the scheme. He said the banquet creates a situation whereby client will have a clear understanding of the NASSIT scheme and to award employers who are complying with the scheme.
Speaking on the issue of Social Security he said, the ILO defines social security as the protection that the society provides to individuals and households to ensure access to health and security particularly in terms of old age, sicknesses and to mention but a few and that it is against this backdrop that the then president Tejan Kabba established the National Social Security Trust, stating that the scheme is compulsory to all government offices and Parastatals.
He concluded by encouraging institution that are non- complaints to comply with the Scheme as according to him it is very beneficial for them adding the a court has been established to prosecutor violation of the NASSIT Act.
