The Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, Betty Amongi, has appointed Patrick M Ayota as the Managing Director of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). His five-year term takes effect on August 18, 2023.
Ayota has been Deputy Managing Director since December 2017 and Chief Financial Officer, having served as Chief Finance Officer from 2011.
The appointment follows the NSSF Board of Director’s recommendation to the Minister, “in accordance with Sections 39 and 40 of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Act, as amended,” according to the letter circulated by the board.
Ayota has been the Fund’s Acting Managing Director for the last eight months which have been dogged by turbulence including probes by parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), the Inspectorate of Government (IG) and a presidential team.
The Fund’s board says Ayota ensured its stability during the challenging period, according to a letter signed by Chairman, Dr Peter Kimbowa.
He comes at a time when the Fund’s primary constituency; the workers union movement is divided over the recent happenings that saw the National Organisation of Trade Unions split into two leadership factions.
One faction sympathetic to the Minister attempted to sack Wilson Owere as Chairman General before the court declared the move illegal. He had accused the minister of overstepping her powers to influence the budget of the fund, including the allocation of 6 billion shillings to herself, accusations she denied.
The former Managing Director, Richard Byarugaba, last week petitioned the civil division of the High Court, challenging a decision not to renew his contract.
Byarugaba is also seeking an order directing Minister Amongi to fulfil her statutory duties and “complete his reappointment as the MD of NSSF as recommended by the board and required by the law.”
He said that rejecting the board’s recommendation to reappoint him was against the procedure because it was done without giving him a right to a fair hearing, thereby violating his legitimate expectations.
Byarugaba was twice MD of the Fund, from 2010 to 2013 and from 2017 to 2022. But late last year, Amongi told Byarugaba that he could not be reappointed nor his term temporarily extended until a substantive appointment was done because he was already past the upper age limit of 60 years. She named Deputy Ayota into an acting capacity.
“The Board is confident that he is the right person to steer the Fund forward at such a critical time following changes in legislation that oblige the Fund to play a leading role in expanding social security coverage to all Ugandans,” says Dr Kimbowa in the letter.
He ends with the assurance that the Fund is stable and on course to surpass its 2015-2025 Strategic Objectives.