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Long-awaited Midterm access for NSSF contributors becomes reality
NSSF MD Richard Byarugaba at the launch of the registration for midterm access
The long-anticipated moment for contributors to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to access a portion of their contributions has arrived after the fund today March 7, 2022 started to register eligible beneficiaries.
NSSF Managing Director Richard Byarugaba held a news conference in the morning of March 7 to announce the arrival of the long-sought opportunity.
The so-called midterm access – which is a term that was coined to describe a window for contributors to tap into their money held by the fund before they attain the mandatory age of 55 years at retirement – has been a key demand by members as a way to enable them set up alternative investments for greater benefits.
After vigorous lobbying by individuals as well as workers unions, the government finally caved in and granted access to the requests. This included amending the NSSF Act to allow for savers to access part of their money before attaining the mandatory retirement age.
During today’s (March 7) news conference, Byarugaba assured the public that they have up to a trillion shillings ready to be disbursed for a total of 41,174 members who qualify for mid-term access.
“Every Thursday, we will pay out at least UGX50bn and we hope that between now and end of the year, we will have paid out up to one trillion (shillings) to qualifying members and we have that liquidity,” said Byarugaba.
In explaining who qualifies for money under midterm access, Byarugaba emphasized that the opportunity is open only to those members who are above forty years and have consistently saved for the last ten years. The other category of beneficiaries is those are
How to register
Byarugaba said there will be three main avenues for registration. i.e
1. Through Mobile money (Airtel and MTN) platforms.
2. Through the NSSF Website or App
3. Physical registration
A table showing the number of contributors who qualify depending of their total contributions
On the physical registration, the NSSF MD advised members to go their branches located across the country and at Kololo airstrip. However, for big organizations such as URA, Bank of Uganda that have more than 150 eligible members, the Fund said they will dispatch a team to register potential beneficiaries.
NSSF says that the first payments will be made next week Thursday March 17, 2022.
Details on this unfolding story shall be posted in subsequent stories
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