Insurers are vowing to take on the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) until it is liberalized, in order to allow them access workers savings as smaller fund managers.
They are keen on taking over the handling the 828billion shillings in savings available with the N.S.S.F as of the latest audited results.
Last week the new board of N.S.S.F maintained that they are eager to see the N.S.S.F Act amended to allow them expand the products they handle to include health saving by the public.
The NSSF Managing Director David Chandi Jamwa, also maintained that the Fund is still weak to warrant liberalizing it, citing the need to improve personnel and raise savings from the public among others.
But emerging from a two-day retreat in Jinja, Insurance firms numbering 19 and grouped under the Uganda Insurers Association declared that they are going to intensify lobbying government and parliament to have the NSSF monopoly dismantled.
The Chairman of UIA Solomon Rubondo says that plans by the NSSF to revitalize the Nsimbe Housing Project, and build 5,000 housing units as well as 9 commercial buildings contained in the 5 year 2007-2012 NSSF Strategic Plan, would hold workers’ savings much longer.
The Insurers claim they are now designing micro health and education products for average income earners.
The NSSF Managing Director Jamwa, says they will hit 1 Trillion shillings in workers’ savings by the 1 st quarter of 2008. He insists that Insurers with 1000billion shillings in premium are not able to give better returns to savers; hence the need by NSSF to invest in real estate.
