Museveni Opens Workers House

By Yunusu Abbey PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has appealed to the National Social Security (NSSF) to review its interest rate on workers' contributions. Opening the ultra-modern Workers House in Kampala yesterday, Museveni said, "The three percent interest rate on workers' savings should be reconsidered in view of the interest rates obtaining elsewhere." He said the savings scheme should be turned to a pension fund quickly. Museveni said such a fund would enable workers get access to their savings on monthly basis and enable workers have a better fall-back on retirement. "I congratulate workers for transforming the skyline of our capital Kampala by putting this majestic structure in the middle of Kampala's business district," he said. Museveni said, "The Workers House is an indication of what I have been saying about the possibility of mobilising small savings for investment." Museveni said since 1992, about sh200b has been raised from the contributions 250,000 workers made to the NSSF. He said the workers were drawn from 1,920 firms. "But there are many workers who are still outside this scheme. If all the workers contributed to the fund, we would not have the problem of running around to donors," he said. He said in the past inflation eroded workers' savings while some went into wrong projects. He said the Uganda People's Congress used workers' saving to construct Uganda House instead of investing for contributors. Ends