NSSF Designs Strategies to Hit Sh50 Trillion Target
NSSF staff being introduced during the meeting at Margaritha Palace Hotel in Lira City
By Patrick Okino
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has designed three key strategic plans to hit it’s target of sh50trillion in a period of ten years.
The fund urged people in the informal and business sectors to embrace smart life saving scheme, noting that over the past ten months it has registered UGX 27 billion in contributions from 3,000 new members.
Looking ahead, NSSF has set a new target of UGX 50 trillion by 2035. To achieve this, the fund plans to expand coverage to 15 million working Ugandans and increase customer engagement to 95%.
The Managing Director, Patrick Ayota, said both the membership and the fund are growing rapidly. He noted that statistics show 33.8% of members save less than UGX 10,000, while nearly 60% save sh50,000.
Speaking at a regional meeting held at Margaritha Palace Hotel in Lira City on Wednesday, Ayota said the figures send a strong message that everyone can save with the fund, regardless of employment status.
He revealed that the fund currently holds about UGX 26 trillion in member contributions as of February 2026—almost double the UGX 15 trillion recorded in 2015.
“The idea is to give people an opportunity to save voluntarily on top of monthly contributions because it is very flexible. Whatever you put into Smart Life, you can withdraw after one year without being questioned,” he said.
Ayota explained that in 2015, NSSF launched a 10-year strategy to grow the fund from UGX 15 trillion to UGX 20 trillion by 2025.
“The ten years ended in June 2025, and we achieved the UGX 20 trillion target. By February 2026, we had reached UGX 26 trillion,” he said.
He added that despite challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a two-year lockdown and the introduction of midterm access to savings, the fund continued to grow steadily.
“We will actively shape our future by growing our membership,” Ayota said, adding that this will be achieved through large-scale recruitment, empowering enterprises, and creating value-driven services and products that encourage voluntary savings.
The Chief Commercial Officer, Geoffrey W. Sajjabi, said the fund is currently running an amnesty campaign targeting non-compliant employers, encouraging them to declare and clear their arrears.
He urged employers to fulfill their obligations by registering all employees—even if they employ only one person—and remitting monthly contributions.
“The key obligation is to ensure contributions are remitted. The law requires that contributions be submitted by the 15th of every month,” he said.
Sajjabi noted that NSSF is currently handling over 500 cases of non-compliance. Common issues include misconceptions that some workers are too young or too old to qualify for contributions.
He clarified that individuals aged 16 to 55 are eligible for mandatory contributions, although contributions can continue beyond 55 on a voluntary basis.
He also dismissed claims that low salaries exempt workers from contributions.
“NSSF does not consider how much a person earns. Even if someone earns UGX 10,000 a month, 5% should be deducted, the employer adds 10%, and it is remitted to NSSF,” he said.
