Uganda Asked To Liberalize Pension Sector

UGPulse.com

October 9, 2008 

Uganda

The government of Uganda has been called upon to liberalize and put a regulator for the pension sector so as to ensure worker’s savings attract the best returns and are well managed. 

The call was made yesterday by the Federation of Uganda Employers. Aloysius Ssemanda, the Chairperson of FUE says employers want the government to open up the pension sector to other players, so that employers and employees can choose who to save their pension with. 

Currently, all employers are required by law to save 15percent of their workers’ salary as social security with the National Social Security Fund, which is currently embroiled in controversial purchase of land from a government minister. Some analysts have been blaming the managerial woes facing the NSSF on the fact that it is a statutory monopoly.

Ssemanda says having more than one social security operator will enable employers and workers to choose where to save their pension depending on the interest, transparency and accountability of a particular operator. 

Ssemanda says that if the investigations into the NSSF Temangalo land scandal find some government and NSSF officers guilty, they should be prosecuted and heavily punished in order to discourage other officers from mismanaging workers’ savings.

The minister of Finance Planning and Economic Development recently said the government had finalized plans to put a regulator for the pension sector and is looking into requests by the business community to liberalise the pension sector.

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