Members of Parliament sitting on the Gender and Finance Committees have resolved to meet President Yoweri Museveni over the controversial National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Amendment Bill 2019.
MPs say they need to first seek the President’s clarification and input in some sections of the Bill before they add theirs and process the Bill.
The Sections of the bill waiting for President’s intervention include 2, 12, 15, 16,17 and 18.
Rubanda East MP, Henry Musasizi, Workers’ MPs Dr.Sam Lyomoki, Arinaitwe Rwakajara and Agnes Kunihira said that they should consult the President before making any decision on this controversial bill especially where the Fund should be housed.
“The President expressed his interest in this Bill in writing and therefore, he becomes a stakeholder among other stakeholders we have interacted with and since from the Committee we have failed to achieve consensus it is important we meet the President before we go to the House,” Musasizi said.
He also declared his interest, saying some MPs were sponsored by President Museveni. He added that they can meet the President as soon as possible using their ‘mechanism’ because “he is not in heaven”.
However, Bugabula South lawmaker, Henry Kibalya rejected the proposal to meet the President over the bill.
He said that the bill should be urgently processed by parliament and sent to the President and if he has issues with the decision of Parliament, he will reject it and offer guidance.
The committee agreed to enable NSSF savers to access their savings after 10 years of saving and at 45 years of age.
“Are we doing justice to this Parliament and this country? Why can’t we conclude this Bill because it can’t become a law if it is not signed by the President? If he has any areas of contention or areas where he’s not satisfied with what we are doing, then he will recommend and send back the Bill…I think we are changing the rules of this Parliament; now we are involving the President into also participating in making Bills for us,” Kibalya said.
Section 2 of the Bill reads; The National Social Security Fund Act, in this Act referred to as theprincipal Act is amended in section 1-(a) by substituting for paragraph (f;, the following-“(0 “contributing employer” means an employer registered under section (7);”(b) by substituting for paragraph (g), the following-“(g) “contribution” includes standard contribution, voluntary contribution and special contribution;”(c) by inserting following-immediately after paragraph (g) the”(ga) “currency point” has the value assigned to it in the Third Schedule to this Act;”(d) by substituting for paragraph (k), the following-“(k) “employer” includes-(i) the Government;(ii) a company registered or incorporated under the Companies Act, 2012;(iii) a partnership registered under the Partnership Act,2010;4
Bill No. 16National Social Security Fund(Amendment A Bill 2019(iv) a trustee incorporated under the Trustees Incorporation Act;(v) a business registered under any other law for the time being in force governing the establishment of business entities;(vi) the governing body of an unincorporated association; and(vii) a manager or a subcontractor who provides employees for the principal contractor; but where a person enters into a contract by which some other person is to provide employees for any lawful purpose of the manager and it is not clear from the contract which of the two persons is the employer, the manager shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be the employer.”
