NASSIT Poise To Ensure Compliance

Following countless reports of non-compliance by employers to pay contributions for their employees to the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) the Director General of NASSIT, Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, has been engaged in numerous discussion programs and meetings with stakeholders to find a way forward that would see employers complying without being coerced or penalized.

Against this background and to avert such incidents, the Judiciary of Sierra Leone, in collaboration with the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), established the Industrial and Social Security Division of the High Court.

This special court was established primarily to enforce compliance with the NASSIT Act No. 5 of July 2001.

At the commissioning, the Chief Justice of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Hon. Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards, stated that the establishment of the court demonstrates the judiciary’s readiness to enforce its constitutional obligation.

The Court, according to the Chief Justice, will sit on cases of non-compliance with the NASSIT Act. This is to give the state’s unflinching support to the welfare of Sierra Leoneans.

On his part, the Director General of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust, Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, stated that the commissioning of a specialized court to sit on non-compliance cases is a hallmark in the history of Social Security administration in Sierra Leone. He said Social Security is a human right and welfare issue, thus, the support of the state’s apparatus is pivotal to its success.

The NASSIT DG added that non-compliance with the NASSIT scheme has been a major challenge to the Trust, thus the decision by the Judiciary to establish a specialized Court is a major impetus in the scheme’s sustainability drive.