By Francis H. Murray
The Minister of Internal Affairs, David Maurice Panda Noah has urged the management of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) to prioritize the welfare of Police personnel by improving on their basic social amenities.
The Minister made this statement during the launch of a nationwide engagement between the Trust and the Police on Tuesday 20th October, at the Police officers’ Mess in Kingtom, Freetown.
He said considering the pivotal role of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) in ensuring the peace and stability of the country and its citizens, there is need to improve on the living conditions of personnel with the provision of good and comfortable housing, access to clean water and electricity.
‘‘We give money and you invest it. Invest in us, build us houses, and build us places so our children will have schools nearby, water and decent places to live,’’ he noted.
He added that the police is in need of quality infrastructure that will encompass all the basic amenities that would make life comfortable for them while they serve the country.
The engagement was organized to sensitize police personnel on the importance of joining the insurance scheme and the benefits pensioners stand to enjoy after retirement.
Explaining the reason for the launch of the nationwide engagement with the police, the Director General of NASSIT, Mohamed Fuad Daboh, said that the event came at the request of the leadership of the Sierra Leone Police on the need to sensitize its personnel about the trust and to identify and solve the many challenges they face dealing with the Trust.
He went on to explain how, following the request from the SLP, a committee comprising personnel from the SLP and staff of NASSIT was set up and entrusted with the responsibility to actualize the request.
He said that the committee looked at several issues and came up with the conclusion that there was need to conduct a nationwide sensitization of the SLP.
He disclosed that some of the problems faced by police personnel while dealing with NASSIT included mismatch of names, change of names either by birth or marriage or divorce, inconsistencies in dates of birth and updates on dependents, among others.
‘‘NASSIT is going to visit all the stations of the SLP across the country. Sensitization will not only educate our colleagues in the SLP on the things we do, but will also address, if not all, but most of the problems that our colleagues face, regarding their membership with the scheme. I now stand to inform you, especially the leadership of the SLP, that we’ll commence the sensitization in the Western Area this year and roll it out into other parts of the country in the early part of 2021,’’ he stated.
He said that the sensitization would not only ensure a nationwide sensitization on all stations of the SPL, but also provide quality service to all the personnel in the police force.
Inspector General of Police, Ambrose Michael Sovula, lauded the partnership with NASSIT, which he said was going to address the longstanding issues of gratuity and retirement benefits. He added that he had made matters bordering on personnel welfare a priority, which he said has been demonstrated in not only the timely supply of police rice, but also in the supply of outstanding rice quotas for personnel.
He urged the personnel and welfare unit and the gender and human resource directorate within the SLP to make readily available all relevant data on personnel in order to ensure the correction of errors before retirement.
He also encouraged officials of NASSIT to work hard and ease the challenges police personnel face in respect of their membership with the scheme.
NASSIT was established by an Act of Parliament to administer a social security scheme that provides financial security to all employees in Sierra Leone in the form of retirement benefits, invalidity benefits and survivors compensation, based on social insurance principles.
Copyright © 2020 Politico Online
