[EKIMEEZA NEWZ] – Extortion racket broken. Sources say that some employees of the Fund have been soliciting for at least 10 per cent of clients’ claims. Failure would result into withholding claimants’ files until they are paid bribes.
A National Social Security Fund manager and her assistant were last Thursday sacked after falling into a trap management laid following a complaint that they asked for a bribe to process a client’s claims.
According to a source, the duo, a lady in the rank of a manager in the benefits department and her assistant were trapped at a restaurant near Workers’ House after management gave the whistleblower marked bank notes amounting to Shs500, 000 which was given to the duo, and later led to their arrest.
According to the source, the duo demanded 10 per cent of the Shs40m retirement claim so as to process it within two days but later started harassing the claimant for their cut. According to the source, the affected manager was well-known for asking for bribes and headed a racket of people
withholding claimants’ files until they are paid bribes.
Vice
“The practice has been that some staff demand a 10 per cent bribe off the amount being claimed so that they can quickly process the claim with a guarantee that the process will take only two days,” said a source who, preferred anonymity because he is not the official spokesperson of the Fund.
The Fund confirmed the developments in an e-mail. NSSF spokesperson Victor Karamagi confirmed that the staffs had been dismissed but did not reveal their details.
“It is true that a customer raised a complaint to the Fund following attempts by two members of staff to exhort a bribe from them. The customer provided evidence that enabled the Fund to identify the suspect members of staff.”
“Although this was an isolated case, we would like to call upon the public to report such incidences in strict confidence in line with the Fund’s whistleblower policy. We also reiterate that all Fund services, such as registration, statements requests and claims benefits processing are free of charge,” the e-mail reads.
Last November, the Fund issued a warning to its members against soliciting for bribes from claimants promising to assist them in processing their benefits quickly.
According to NSSF, benefits processing takes an average of 28 working days down from 80 days in 2007 and 40 days in 2008. The Fund says its target is for clients to access their benefits within two weeks after applying.
The Fund currently pays an average of Shs6b per month to over 1000 qualifying members. In January, February and March 2010, it paid Shs4.5b, Shs5.9b and Shs7b respectively.
