Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Civil society activists have raised concerns over a new directive by the Labour Ministry requiring employers—including NGOs, private companies, UN agencies and diplomatic missions in South Sudan—to remit workers’ benefits to the state-owned National Social Insurance Fund (NSIF), warning that weak accountability systems and past financial mismanagement could expose workers’ savings to risk.
The activists say the policy comes at a time when public confidence in government financial institutions remains low, citing corruption concerns and lack of transparency in the management of public funds.
Godfrey Victor, a Juba-based activist, warned that the system could expose workers’ money to misuse and make it difficult for employees to access their pensions or benefits when needed.
“If the money is remitted to the government, the government will use it without accounting to the owners. From the experience we have, money paid to government is difficult for govt to account for that money,” he said.
“Also if the worker is terminated from work and needs his pensions money, it will be difficult to access it under the NSIF. Government should develop its systems so that there is trust in its systems, to assure workers that their money will be safe. Otherwise, if it wants to manage funds, let it try it with few government workers like a pilot. Then it can be rolled out to everyone if it is a success.”
He suggested that the NSIF should first pilot the scheme with a limited number of government workers before expanding it nationwide.
Bol Deng Bol, head of civil society in Jonglei State, echoed similar concerns, saying lack of trust in public institutions remains a major challenge.
“We have a fear as civil society because the past teaches us that money collected from people by government doesn’t come back in terms of the services. There is no guarantee that the money is going to come back to the workers,” he said.
“There is no guarantee that if the money is entrusted to this body that it will come back to the owners. Let’s keep the current methods where the employers keep the benefits of the workers until there is stability in the institutions of government. Until we have trust in the government. Until we see the money of government is being used well. For now, it is not the case.”
Bol added that years of alleged mismanagement of taxes and public revenues have eroded confidence in state-run financial systems.
The Labour Ministry’s directive has sparked debate over pension management and workers’ protections, with critics calling for stronger safeguards before any centralized system is fully implemented.
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