Minister appoints NSSA board

The National Social Security Authority now has a board of directors for the first time for nearly two years. The board chairperson is Robin Vela. The vice-chairperson is Daphne Tomana.

Minister of the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Prisca Mupfumira announced the new board this (Friday) afternoon.

She said that, in looking for a new and vibrant board, she had taken into account issues of gender and youth. The last board's term of office expired in August 2013.

The NSSA board is made up of three members representing workers' organisations, three representing employers' organisation and three directly chosen by the minister. The general manager, Mr James Matiza is an ex officio board member. The ministry is also represented on the board by a non-voting member.

The three board members chosen directly by the Minister are Mr Vela, Ms Tomana and Hashmon Matemera.

The board members representing employers' organisations are Sijabuliso Biyam, Nester Mukwewa and Eria Phiri.

The nominees of workers' organisations appointed are Jemima Mateko and Richard Gundane. Mrs Mupfumira said a third workers' representative would be appointed later, after various regulatory clearance procedures had been completed.

The ministry representative appointed as a non-voting member of the board is Memory Mukondomi.

Expressing confidence in the new board members' capacity to face the challenges ahead, the minister said all state enterprises and parastatals were considered agencies in the implementation of government's Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset) blueprint.

"The current economic environment will call upon you to review the NSSA investment policy so that it is aligned to the expectations of the ZimAsset in terms of development issues," she said.

Emphasising the need for an investment mix which takes into account the welfare of pensioners, she said NSSA's investment policy needed to address issues relating to infrastructure development, agricultural production, processing and marketing, small and medium enterprises and housing, especially for low income earners.

"The NSSA housing programme must address the shortage of accommodation being experienced by civil servants in the rural areas," she said

This would be done by providing cheap basic high density housing schemes for those who were lowly paid, who formed the bulk of the members of NSSA's pension scheme.

"These include teachers and other civil servants who need decent accommodation with running water and electricity, so the Public Service Commission does not have the problem  of posting qualified personnel in the rural areas, where there is great need for them to serve our people in those areas," she said.

"We want the investment policy to also focus on issues of creation of jobs. It has to be skewed in favour of ZimAsset rather than simply concentrating on money market investment," she said.

Mrs Mupfumira said there were plans to add one or more social security schemes, such as a maternity benefits scheme or national health  insurance scheme during the ZAimAsset planning period. The ZimAsset programme runs from 2014 to 2018.

She said the preivous NSSA board had approved a board charter and embarked on developing a code of ethics, which was subsequently completed by management. It had put in place, she said, a framework for annual board evaluation.

"It would be important for this board to build on the foundation that was laid," she said.

"You assume oversight of NSSA at a time when there are enormous economic challenges such as liquidity constraints, company closures, low investment returns and rising claims, especially under the National Pension and Other Benefits Scheme, but I have faith in you as a board that not only will you navigate this difficult terrain but also safeguard and deliver value to both the contributors and the beneficiaries of the schemes.

"It is obvious that NSSA, as one of the biggest financial institutions in the country, will receive a lot of proposals for investment from other sectors of the economy.

"You need to have a very competent investment arm to handle such requests in the interest of growing the economy.

"The more jobs are created, the more contributors NSSA will have and that is how NSSA will grow," she said, adding that her ministry would do all that was necessary to underpin the board's success.

The minister said the board should take a keen interest in those companies and institutions in which NSSA has a shareholding. The non-executive directors who represent NSSA's interest in such companies and institutions must participate effectively and add value through their participation.

NSSA should organise a workshop for the board and management and those who represent NSSA's interests in those organisations, she said.

Responding  to the Minister's address, the new chairman, Mr Vella, said the new board was not naïve about the task ahead of it. It would work closely with management, he said.

He said the board would work to ensure the protection of contributions and the growth of NSSA.

Important to him, he said, were transparency and integrity in all the board does.