NSSF urges workers to report employers dodging remittances

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Officials from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) have decried increasing non-compliance among employers in the Bunyoro Sub-region and urged employees to report culprits as one way of helping the agency fight the vice.

Speaking at the Mid-Western NSSF pre-annual general meeting for employers held in Hoima city on March 6, 2026, NSSF chief commercial officer Geoffrey Waswa Sajjabi said compliance among employers remains a major challenge.

Sajjabi cited schools, security organisations, construction companies and plantation companies, among others, as some of the entities that do not comply with NSSF regulations that mandate employers to remit employees' savings.

Mid western region Employers attending the NSSF pre-annual general meeting. (Photo by Peter Abaanabasazi)

He noted that some organisations under-declare their workers' contributions while others do not remit them at all.

He added that it has also been discovered that some institutions classify their workers as volunteers and interns with the intention of dodging payment of contributions for their employees.

He further said that some employers claim that certain workers are too young to qualify for contributions and, in the process, fail to remit contributions for them.

Sajjabi described all these excuses by employers as illegal and punishable, and challenged employers to adhere to the regulations.

“NSSF imposes a 10% penalty on the total outstanding amount for every month or period that an employer fails to remit workers' contributions,” he warned.

However, he challenged employees to report bosses who adamantly refuse to remit their contributions to NSSF as required.

He noted that NSSF upgraded a web-based whistleblower platform through which employees can report non-compliant employers. He added that the system was initiated to help disgruntled employees anonymously report employers who fail to remit NSSF contributions.

“Once members fill in their complaints, the fund will take up the investigation, and once it finds evidence of non-compliance, the entities will be prosecuted and forced to pay a missed contribution,” said. Sajjabi.

Sajjabi also underscored the need for employees to save with the fund to make wise decisions on how they spend their money after retirement. He noted that many people withdraw all their savings upon retirement and invest in non-profitable ventures such as house construction or buying cars. Within two to three years after retiring, they often end up facing poverty.

“Don’t withdraw money when you don’t have a solid plan. "The mistake we make is that sometimes we withdraw money because we want to use it, but have no plan on how to use the money,” he said.

The NSSF managing director, Patrick Ayota, said that 60% of employers nationally are compliant, while 40% remain non-compliant.

"In general, compliance with us is a strict measure. Compliance is when you pay on time, pay the full amount by the 15th of next month. When you miss that, you are not compliant," he said.

Innovation

Ayota said the agency has traditionally depended on the formal sector but has now expanded to the informal sector in order to increase the number of people saving with the fund.

He noted that the fund expects to reach sh50 trillion by 2035, but cannot achieve this by relying only on the formal sector.

He added that the fund has initiated programmes that add value to the informal sector, including vendors, boda boda riders, entrepreneurs and farmers, to enable them to earn more and save with the fund.

Patrick Ayota, the Managing Director NSSF, (R) giving top best compliance award to EnviroServ staff led by James Sseruyange (L) after the meeting. (Photo by Peter Abaanabasazi)

“We are very concerned that for somebody to save with us, we need to bring them value, so you are seeing us doing things with entrepreneur, providing them with seed capital, we are in agriculture where will link farmers to market places, we are into boda-bodas, helping them with different things and we doing all this to see that bring them on board.”

He also said the agency introduced Smart Life Flexi, an initiative that allows individuals to save voluntarily. He added that so far, sh80 billion has been saved within 10 months under the initiative.

Growth of the fund

Ayota said the fund has registered significant growth. He noted that collections are expected to reach sh2.1 trillion in the 2024–2025 financial year and sh2.4 trillion in the 2025–2026 financial year.

He added that the fund’s balance sheet stood at sh26 trillion by June 2025 and had increased to sh29.5 trillion by February 2026, indicating growth of sh3.5 trillion.

Mary Baka, an officer from Enveloper Fort Portal, commended NSSF for organising the meeting, saying it enables employers to interact with officials and share their challenges for innovation.

During the meeting, NSSF awarded 15 of the best compliant companies, including Kolping Hotel, St Jude Nursery and Primary School and EnviroServ Hoima, among others.

The amended NSSF Act of 2022 mandates employers to remit employees' contributions to the fund regardless of the number of workers employed.