By Amin Kef Sesay
The Director General of National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, joined his staff at the Kailahun District Council Hall on the 25th February 2021 to bring to an end a nationwide engagement with the Sierra Leone Police.
This epoch-making event brought together the Minister of Internal Affairs, Honourable Panda Noah, the Inspector General of Police, Michael Ambrose Sovula, the Local Unit Commander of the Kailahun Division, the General Manager of Public Affairs and Events Management, Osman Koroma, the Ag. General Manager of Operations, Edwin Kamara, Mohamed Sam, Regional Offices Coordinator and members of the Press.
The nationwide NASSIT engagement with the Sierra Leone Police which commenced on the 24th of October 2020, was borne out of NASSIT’s desire to have sectoral engagements with various stakeholders of the scheme, so as to rectify emerging complaints from contributors and address challenges that cause undue delays in the processing and payment of benefit.
In his address, the Director General expressed his gratitude to the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Inspector General of Police for attending the programme and commended the leadership of the Sierra Leone Police for creating a smooth platform between NASSIT and the serving police personnel. “I am particularly enthused by the level of collaboration between the Minister and the Inspector General. This is what we need for the development of this country. Thank you for such leadership and teamwork,” he said.
Dilating on the challenges with the Police data, the Director General reiterated NASSIT’s commitment to the timely processing and payment of benefit to members, on the occurrence of a contingency. Daboh, however lamented the Trust’s constraints with data issues such as inconsistencies in names, dates of birth and other records of personnel and their dependants. “This data discrepancy”, according to the Director-General, “undermines the timely processing and payment of benefit”. He called on the Inspector General to encourage his men to take advantage of the sessions to correct their data, update their records and always visit NASSIT offices across the country for more information.
“Only through this that a sustainable relationship will be created and enhanced between the Scheme and its membership” he said.
Speaking at the occasion, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Honourable David Maurice Panda-Noah, lauded the efforts of the Director General and his staff for the timely engagement with the Sierra Leone Police, and entreated the Police personnel to not only ensure that their records are correct and up-to-date but to also be part of the process as they were partners in the quest for a sustainable scheme.
According to the Minister, the activities of the Director General were a manifestation of the principal concern of the New Direction regime, which is the empowerment of the human resource capacity of the citizenry through education, health, food security and safety. He said the impact of NASSIT on the Sierra Leone Police could not be underestimated as NASSIT had the responsibility to secure the lives of retired pensioners. “After serving this nation diligently, we and our dependants will have to look up to NASSIT after retirement,” he stated.
The Minister likened the engagement to that of infrastructural development, describing NASSIT as the network for a better retirement and therefore encouraged the personnel to be part of the change.
Addressing his personnel, the Inspector General, Michael Ambrose Sovula, acknowledged the endeavours of the NASSIT Director General for what he described as a worthy enterprise. He assured his personnel that the current leadership of NASSIT is capable of putting the Trust on the right trajectory.
He told his audience that his Management is aware of the challenges police personnel are facing in the dispensation of their duties, but assured them that the New Direction administration is poised to ensure that their welfare is guaranteed. He encouraged them to make good use of the exercise, gain knowledge, check for the correctness of their data, update regularly and ask relevant questions to clear their doubts about the scheme.
“NASSIT has come to your doorstep to rectify every concern you may have with the Trust. Make the best use of it. Even though today is the last day of the sensitization, NASSIT will always be around to answer your queries,” he said.
The session was climaxed with presentations on the key thematic areas of the scheme, followed by a question-and-answer session and the distribution of members’ statements of account.
