June 8, 2018
By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
Outgone DG Joseph Mans Jnr handed over to Mohamed Fuad Daboh yesterday
Newly approved Director General of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), Mohamed Fuad Daboh, has promised to work diligently with staff of the institution to effectively deliver on their mandate to subscribers of the scheme.
Mr. Daboh was speaking Thursday, 7th June as the out-gone Director General, Joseph Saidu Mans Jr handed over the task of leading the Trust Fund to him.
He narrated that on 30th May he received a call from the Chief Minister, who informed him that he would be receiving a letter from the President, which he said turned out to be his appointment as Director General of the Trust.
He thanked President Maada Bio for appointing him to the highest office at the institution and also thanked the outgone DG for keeping the fort during his tenure and the peaceful handing over ceremony.
He noted that his appointment was a blessing as he has been chosen to lead the institution, adding that he would lead in the way of God and believes he would succeed.
He said that while being interviewed by the Parliamentary Appointment Committee, he told members that the institution was established by an Act of Parliament and that he would work in line with the provisions of the said Act as head the institution.
The new DG, who was second-in-command to the outgone DG, said he has had a lot of chats with people as to how he could transform the institution, adding that with the commitment of his staff he was confident of taking the institution to higher height.
In his handing over statement, out-gone Director General Joseph Saidu Mans Jr., said the handing over ceremony was unique because it was the very first time they were having any formal or informal handing over from one Director General to another.
Mans, who headed the Trust Fund for more than three years, said he was happy to have paved the way for many more Director Generals from within the institution, having been the first internally appointed DG.
He recalled that when he took over he told his staff to go back to their core principles and minimise venturing into all sorts of investments.
He said NASSIT is charged with the responsibility of administering Sierra Leone’s National Pension Scheme, a Social Security Scheme that provides financial security to all employees in Sierra Leone in the form of old age benefits, invalidity benefits and survivors’ benefits based on social insurance principles.
In his handing over statement, he thanked the President for allowing him to stay in office until his retirement and that he was grateful that the board worked with him tirelessly during his tenure in office.
He said the institution has contributed greatly to national development over the years and that he was pleased to report that the scheme’s membership has grown to 244,452 members, adding that the cumulative fund of the Trust was now at Le51.1 trillion as against Le954 billion in 2014 when he took over.
He said he was happy that his successor came from within, thus calling on staff to give the new DG their support as they did to him during his tenure.
Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Security, Lansana Mohamed Dumbuya, said he was happy to be part of the handing over ceremony as institution is key to national development.
Dumbuya thanked the out-gone Director General for leading the institution on to handing over day, adding that in organisational development change is inevitable.
The deputy minister called on the staff to join hands with the new DG to overcome challenges, adding that prior to taking over office talk was rife that a lot of investment had gone bad in the institution, including the NASSIT ferry and expensive structures built by the Trust that are not commercially viable.
Interim chairman of NASSIT Board of Trustee, Jennings A. B. Wright, described the day as ‘special’ because the peaceful transition, and thanked the outgone DG for his stewardship of the institution.
Wright informed the new DG that he should be ready to carry the heavy load because every Sierra Leonean looks up to the institution.
He said NASSIT is a very strong institution with long term investments that would help create job for Sierra Leoneans.