Tanzanians tired of ‘toothless dogs’ like SSRA and others

By Tobias Nsungwe:

The former Prime Minister, Edward Lowassa doubts whether our country has a committed and disciplined executives to implement the plan

THE Presidential Delivery Bureau (PDB) must be given teeth that bite to be able to take action against government employees when they fail to reach set targets in public service delivery, a former national leader has said.

The bureau is part of the Big Result Now (BRN) programme which has been designed to identify and resolve constraints to result delivery in the six key national priority areas of energy, transport, agriculture, water, education, and resource mobilization.

BRN is a programme copied from Malaysia. Although he admits the idea to form the PDP is good, the former Prime Minister, Edward Lowassa doubts whether our country has a committed and disciplined executives to implement the plan.

“The programme is good but if we don’t implement it, it will be useless. Malaysia has succeeded because they have discipline to implement projects. Here we talk too much. Things don’t move because we have embarked on lip service phenomenon. (Uswahili)” Lowassa said while contributing in the National Assembly last week.

“I ask myself a few questions. Does PDP have biting teeth to push things forward?’’ Lowassa said to the attentive legislators. We have also a couple of ‘toothless’ bodies like the Leadership Ethics Commission, the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) and others. But this week I also want to ask myself. Does the Social Security Regulatory Authority (SSRA), have teeth to bite delinquent employers? Is SSRA able to punish employers which don’t remit employees’ monthly contributions to pension funds like; PPF, NSSF, LAPF or PSPF?

Reports that retired MPs suffer from pennilessness have shocked many Tanzanians. Speaker of the National Assembly, Anne Makinda, revealed recently that former MPs pay visits at her office asking for financial assistance!

Now if retired MPs are forced to ask for alms because of say meager monthly pensions, what about the common citizens? That is why we need a powerful SSRA to deal with employers who don’t comply.

Records indicate that all funds cover only 1.2 million members while the country has a work-force of 23 million people. Many Tanzanians are not registered in the social security funds. Another problem is that many employers don’t remit contributions to the funds although they deduct the same from monthly salaries.

The SSRA Director General, SSRA, Irene Isaka, claims that there is a strategy in place to minimize bureaucracy in the manner in which the funds carry duties in order to avoid unnecessary annoyance to members.

SSRA has an uphill task if at all it has to gather trust from Tanzanians because most employers in the country don’t remit employees contributions contrary to the law Media Houses is an example of non-compliant employers.

Even President Jakaya Kikwete admitted knowing the problem when he spoke at a journalists’ function in March 2012. Many journalists don’t know the fate of their benefits because their contributions are not remitted in their PPF or NSSF accounts. Is SSRA a toothless dog unable to compel employers to respect the law?

The idea to allow employers to shift from one social security fund to another must not be used as a way to run from past debts. SSRA must ensure that this loophole is not used at the expense of employees.

SSRA, must be the place where employees can be sure of getting a solution to get rid of employers who want to exploit their money. We don’t expect NSSF, PPF or even SSRA authorities to ‘fall in love’ with delinquent employers. If that happens, Tanzanians will paint a picture that Fund authorities and employers have a hidden agenda to exploit poor workers. Who can stop Tanzanians from believing that NSSF or PPF officials receive bribes from delinquent employers? SSRA must step up to wipe this notion.

Tanzania has 2.1 million elders of which 82 per cent live in rural areas. It is also said that only four per cent receive monthly pensions. Some of the retirees suffer a lot while following up their terminal benefits because of lack of proper documentation from their former employers. Why should workers suffer because of employers’ negligence? SSRA must turn an eagle’s idea to media houses who don’t remit workers’ contributions.

It creates a lot of suspicions to not that an employer hasn’t remitted contribution for three years! Where are PPF and NSSF compliance officers? Shouldn’t we smell corruption here?

SSRA must stretch up its muscles to ensure all employers fulfill their obligation to remit employees’ contributions timely. No excuses! I welcome the idea of Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Regional Administration and Local governments), Hawa Ghasia, who suggested that pension funds must pay employees their rightful benefits and claim the same from defaulting employers.

Ghasia advised at the Local Authorities Pension Fund (LAPF) meeting in Arusha recently. Pension funds like PPF and NSSF must implement the idea because it avoid unnecessary embarrassment which most employees are subjected to when quitting job from most of the private companies.

The emergence of SSRA must improve compliance among employers and improve pension services; otherwise there is no need of having it. We need a biting SSRA to bite non-compliant employers. Tanzanians are sick and tired of having toothless bodies.