October 12, 2017 By Regina Pratt
As part of its 15 years of existence, the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), has organized a three-day members’ conference at the Bintumani Conference Centre, Aberdeen in Freetown.
In his keynote address at the conference on Tuesday 10th October, 2017, Vice President, Dr. Victor Bockarie Foh, said NASSIT was an initiative designed to improve on the welfare of the working class, thus congratulating the institution and its staff for achieving greater success for 15 years.
“There is dignity in Labour. We are not here to commemorate the cornerstone but to celebrate the staff as building blocks of the institution,” VP Foh said.
He said it is incumbent on all employers to pay contributions for their employees, adding that if people continue to contribute to NASSIT, they would someday become pensioners.
The Vice President further said it is evident that NASSIT has touched the lives of many citizens, thus making the institution an integral part of the country’s socio economic growth.
Director-General of NASSIT, Dr. Joseph Sedu Mans, said the day was special to his institution, noting that the scheme was opened for the people.
He said the theme of the 15 -year celebration was: Harnessing the Gains, Challenges and Opportunities towards improved Service delivery.
He explained that with support from representatives of sister institutions in Ghana, Kenya, Gambia, World Bank in the USA and Mr. Amad Bamba from Rwanda, they have created a dialogue and feedback forum.
He recalled that in 2002, an interim committee, which was inaugurated by the late President Dr. Ahmed Tejan Kabbah’s Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP)-led government and chaired by President Koroma, worked with other members tirelessly for the success of the scheme.
He paid tribute to late Ghanaian born Eric N. A. Adjei, who worked as a consultant and later became the first director general of NASSIT, and also late President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah for the establishment of the scheme.
“As the biggest player in Sierra Leone’s economy, pensioners are now using the bio-metric scheme. The value of the Trust for June 2017 is 1.46 trillion Leones,” he revealed.