Midterm Access: NSSF To Kick Off Payments To Eligible Members Next Week

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Midterm Access: NSSF To Kick Off Payments to Eligible Members Next Week

By Uganda online Media

Kampala: The Minister of Gender Labour and Social Development, Hon Betty Among has revealed that Ugandans who have been saving with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) can access midterm savings as mandated by the law beginning next week.

According to the minister, the legal and administrative arrangements have been made in order to actualize midterm access to benefits that are provided for under the National Social Security Fund (Amendment) Act 2022.

Among noted that this followed the decision by President Museveni who assented to the National Social Security Fund (Amendment) Act 2022 on the 2nd January 2022 and the same became Law upon its publication in the Gazette on 7th January 2022.

According to section 20A of the National Social Security Fund Act, 2022 provides for mid-term access to benefits in the following circumstances:

i). A member who is forty-five years of age and above and who has made contributions to the fund for at least ten years, will be eligible to midterm access to his or her benefits, of a sum, not exceeding 20 percent of his or her accrued benefits; and
ii). A member who is a person with a disability who is forty years of age and above and has made contributions to the fund for at least ten years, will be eligible to midterm access, of a sum of 50 percent of his or her accrued benefits.

Therefore, in order for a member to be eligible for up to 20 percent of his or her accrued benefits, such a member should be forty-five years of age and above and have made a total of 120 monthly contributions to the fund.

With regard to persons with disabilities, a member will be eligible for midterm access of 50 percent of his or her accrued benefits if such a member is forty years of age and above, and has made a total of 120 monthly contributions to the fund.

Therefore, members who have not made a total of 120 monthly contributions to the Fund will not be eligible for midterm access to benefits even if their accounts have been maintained with the fund for at least 10 years.

Furthermore, whereas section 20A (3) provides that a person with disabilities is eligible to midterm access of a sum of 50 percent of his or her accrued benefits, a member who is a person with a disability upon agreement with the fund may apply for less than 50 percent of his or her accrued benefit.

” I have issued and signed off the National Social Security Fund (Midterm Access to Benefits) Regulations 2022. The same will be published in the Gazette today Thursday 3rd March 2022 and will accordingly become Law”. Therefore, with effect from, Monday 7th March 2022 eligible members as described above will be free to apply for midterm benefits, ” Among said in a statement.

Among also revealed that for the last few months, the fund has been developing capabilities to efficiently process and pay Mid-term benefits to qualifying members adding that it has developed technology to perform validation of both member registration data and mid-term benefit claims among others thus assuring savers that the fund has enough money to cater for all the eligible members.

” I would like to firmly state that the question of whether the Fund has the money to pay Mid-term Benefit or not should not arise. I have received assurances from the Fund that adequate liquidity has been set aside to pay qualifying members as and when they apply, Among added.

The Fund projects that it will pay about UGX 50 billion per week over the next 5 months.

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