NSIF GM Implores Employers To Insure Workers

By Elvis Tah & Christian Stegmueller, (Student Journalist On Internship)

The General Manager of the National Social Insurance Fund, NSIF, Louis Paul Motaze, has called on State employers to register their employees with his institution so that they can become beneficiaries of a retirement fund.

New NSIF edifice

He equally urged employers who have registered their employees with the Fund to make sure that the files of workers pending retirements are completed in order to evade problems when they become pensioners.

"NSIF will henceforth move from quarterly to monthly payments of its beneficiaries," Motaze said.Motaze equally disclosed that some newly insured workers in June, whose pension benefits were not paid due to some little problems, are currently receiving payment.

The NSIF Boss made these declarations during the inauguration, of the new building to host the Southwest Provincial Social Insurance Centre, by the Prime Minister and Head of Government, Chief Ephraim Inoni, Friday July 6.

The edifice, situated at Mile 17, along the Buea-Mutengene highway, is a three-storey building with a basement.It has a surface area of 4500 square metres, with an attendant building specially conceived and christened "pensioners' home" - a lobby for pensioners. The building will equally host social health welfare for insured workers.

According to one of the contractors of Fokou Foberd Company, Aristide Ngueya, the architecture of the building was done according to seismic norms required in a volcanic zone.
It took two years, three months to be completed, and it is estimated to have cost FCFA 2 billion.

The Minister of Labour and Social Security, Robert Nkili, laid the foundation stone of the building in January 2005.Meanwhile, the Mayor of the Buea municipality, Charles Mbella Moki, dispelled claims that the Council and the Minister disputed over the site of the building.

According to him, the Ministry concerted with the Council and he even proposed a parcel of land opposite where the building now stands if the current site could not host the edifice. Mbella appreciated the new building and said it has come to add to the development and beauty of the town.

A worker at the NSIF Buea, Deborah Shu, told The Post that everything is set for the new centre to go operational in a fortnight. She said working conditions are going to improve with the coming of the computerisation process, which allows for the improvement of index cards.
She told The Post that police officers would be placed within the vicinity during pay hours to protect the old people from being fleeced or outsmarted by thieves.

PM Promises Constant Water Supply In Buea

For his part, the Prime Minister, Ephraim Inoni, promised to ensure a constant supply of water in Buea."It is my personal commitment to provide a constant water supply to the people of Buea and I promise to do it," the PM said.

He enjoined the people of Buea to close ranks and vote for the ruling CPDM if they want to be beneficiaries of many more development projects from the Government.

High Spirits

Many pensioners and businessmen around Mile 17 Motor Park have expressed contentment concerning the relocation of NSIF there.A pensioner, John Neng, was all smiles as he sauntered around the edifice.

"I am very happy about this latest development because most of our problems are going to be solved. At first we were obliged to go to Yaounde to chase files because everything was centralised, but now all we need to do is to come here and our problem will be solved.

Talking about the old building, it was very small and we were compelled to sit under the sun or rain on daily bases just to get our pension money but with this new building, there is enough space and there is even a place for us to sit within the building." Neng said.

A businessman at Mile 17, Joshua Teboh said the relocating of the NSIF is a welcome development because it would provide an avenue for him to sell his merchandise to pensioners as well as the workers in that office.

Comments

[Epizi]

Here comes another area of deep neglect by our belove reform fighters of the country.Ofcourse the obvious choice between making one the Director General of Teasuries or the Social insurance fund will be the former.Certainly the shortsightedness is about to be unleashed to the less litrate in Finance. One of the richest institutions of any country is its social insurance or pension fund.This fund plays very major role in capitalising most government projects at zero or little interest rate because the contributors to this fund knows not more than a hard strive to get some wrehcted allowance. In the capital market there is a mad rush to purchase securities derived from this fund because of its payment gaurantee and perhaps because of assurance to perpertuity. While a lot goes under the eyes of Cameroonians this is a one area where there is no pretence of the volume of financing and refinancing generated to the corrupt offices.No one question its source or outcome perhaps because we do not know.I wish this serve as an eye opener to us.

One important aspect so perculiar with LDCs like Cameroon is the Life expectancy at birth.Unlike the western society with aging population having a number of Old ready to benefit from their pension contribution, it is never the case with us since many contributors die before even going on retirement.Also taken for granted is the element of unemployment break: assume one quits a job as a contributor and gets another one as a non contributor, this benefit automatically varnishes.There is evidence however, so much to support the fact that what is expended for the contributors to this fund is far lesser than what is contributed. The question here is where is the extra? Why is the operation of this particular institution so vague? Why will the Prime minister sound his own whistle when he knows fully well that the fund itself has done nothing yet if only the first project for decades they have accomplished is that puppet home they are not quite ashame to value it at 2billions and call it an edifice.Sometimes I feel these old people who have plunge our belove nation to this dudgeon of suffering should get a fair share of their part, but it helps us to know and don't educate.Even university professors get down the drain during retirement due to their frustration in keeping abrase only with what concerns them.Time to educate all on even common issue like this is now.

I hope to come back of this issue if time will permit, to sanctioned a qualified article of what NSIF is hiding and like other countries as Cameroonians we deserve to be educated thus.

Epizitone
Financial Economist
ebodume.anabi@hotmail.com

[Jimmy Stan]

love this building, it is part of development for us, think it is one of the best presently in Buea