By Mabinty M.Kamara
The President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) has called on officials of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) to invest in the development of Sierra Leone media, noting that it is an investment in the democracy and good governance of the state.
Ahmed Sahid Nasralla who was speaking at a seminar hosted by NASSIT for news men on Friday 10th June 2022, acknowledged the relationship between the trust and the media but said there was need for more, given the challenges in media, both in terms of welfare and production materials, especially at a time when the world is facing economic challenges caused by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the current Ukraine and Russia war.
He also said that the association is still challenged with noncompliance by media employers to the NASSIT contributions which he said is affecting the welfare and security of journalists, despite efforts to ensure that the challenges are addressed. However, he said they will continue to engage both NASSIT, the employers, and the Independent Media Commission (IMC) to not only have the laws in the IMC Act but to monitor for compliance.
In his statement, the Commissioner at the Independent Media Commission Emmanuel Kallay who served as the chairman of the event noted the partnership between the IMC and the Trust, saying the relationship between NASSIT and media institutions across the country has improved tremendously due to its open-door policy. He also acknowledged the commitment of the institution to media development across the country.
He therefore called on journalists to support and cooperate with the institution and the NASSIT Act.
The Director-General of NASSIT, Mohamed Fuad Daboh in his statement at the opening of the seminar said that the media is a very important partner in the work of the institution, noting that they are both contributors and liaison between the trust and the public.
He said the media has over the years expressed interest in knowing about the trust’s activities such as their investment and clarification on concerns raised by the public. To address this, he said the institution hired an international consultant to audit the institution’s investments .The firm has already submitted the report which is currently with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security for onward action.
He admitted the delay in responding to inquiries and payment of benefits to contributors or their families. However, he said these delays are mostly not caused by the institution but as a result of due processes and verifications that are needed to ensure efficiency and trust in their work.
He said they continue to work on improving their services for which they are working on digitizing their operations through a state-of-the-art Information and Communication system in the country by next year.
He highlighted a new project introduced known as project 24 that is aimed at improving their relationship with other sectors in the scheme.
The Director-General noted that the contribution of the informal sector has however not been encouraging for which they have introduced a special scheme targeted at the informal sector.
The participants at the seminar were taken through the institution's operations, the legal issues, and other areas.
In a detailed presentation,the General Manager of Benefit, Victoria A. Mansaray stated that the more a contributor works, and the higher the salary, the more benefits one stands to collect in case of invalidity, retirement, or death.
She said the pension is calculated as the average of the best sixty months which she described as the months with the highest pay multiplied by the pension year (the number of years contributed to the scheme). She also said that after every two years, the trust index the pension to meet the economic trend of the country.
She explained that pension starts after retirement at age 60 and that “If the pensioner dies at age 75, it means the trust will continue to pay monthly pensions to the nominated qualified dependants. The youngest nominated survivor who was 1 year old at the time of the retirement of the member would be 16yrs at the death of the pensioner, he/she receives 60% of the pension for another 7years,” she said. She added, “If this dependent child is certified by the NASSIT medical board to be invalid, he/she receives the pension till death, the spouse(s) receive 40% of the pension till they remarry or die”.
Mansaray noted that most of the delays in the payment of benefits have been caused by inconsistencies in the name presented to the trust at the time of registration and the one presented at the time of benefit collection, inconsistencies in contributions, incomplete information, wrong relationship to members of the scheme, forged documents such as marriage certificates and death certificates.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (13/06/22)
