NSSF MD Richard Byarugaba has said there is no way savers can have partial access to their savings because it is illegal to do so.
Byarugaba says the fund has no legal basis upon which to make adhoc payments as suggested by a section of the public.
He says NSSF is a social security scheme that was created to provide a safety net for members in case of old age, permanent incapacitation, or dependents in the event o death of a member.
Members of the public including former FDC president Rtd. Col. Kiiza Besigye and Kampala Central MP Muhamad Nsereko recently proposed that NSSF should provide partial payouts to its members due to uncertainties caused by COVID-19 pandemic.
Ugandans are slowly beggining to feel the effects of the CODIV-19 pandemic with prices on foodstuffs rising, and ministry of finance planning to borrow funds to mitigate its effects to the economy.
Byarugaba said the current pandemic does not meet any of the above criteria and therefore the suggestion is not plausible.
He also said partial payments would be discriminatory because if the fund’s 1.5million savers were to be given relief from the fund, a vast population of the workers in Uganda would be left out.
He says 80 percent of the funds’ assets are invested in government treasury bonds, which when used to pay all members, would amount to government buying back its bonds to raise liquidity which would have more devastating effects in future.