Director General of NASSIT Mohamed Fuaad Daboh
A recent audit of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) discovered significant inconsistencies in the payment processes for government pensioners. According to the Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL), between January and August 2023, NASSIT paid out a staggering NLe1,448,191 (equivalent to NLe1.4 billion Old Leones) to 75 pensioners who lacked social security numbers and NASSIT unique identification numbers.
This alarming revelation calls into question the payment system’s integrity and the veracity of records stored in the NASSIT database. The ASSL suggested that the Database Administrator take immediate action to repair the NAPOSS II system database. This includes activating all validation functions, such as rules and triggers, to prevent record falsification or manipulation.
However, NASSIT management responded by emphasising that payments to government pensioners are primarily based on their Pension ID, not social security numbers, which they claim are generated for cosmetic purposes and displayed on identity cards. They also claimed that this practice causes no financial loss, stating that social security numbers are generated in batches regularly and that plans are in place to assign numbers to pensioners who do not yet have them.
Despite these assurances, the ASSL’s recommendations were not carried out, raising questions about the effectiveness of NASSIT internal controls. Further investigation uncovered even more troubling findings: multiple pensioners were assigned the same social security number. Specifically, twelve government pensioners were discovered to have the same social security number while receiving payments under different claim numbers. Furthermore, two pensioners shared the same name and social security number, complicating matters further. These twelve pensioners received payments totalling NLe136,832,000 (136.8 billion Old Leones).
In light of these findings, ASSL advised the Acting General Manager of ICT to ensure that each social security number is unique to a single pensioner and that data validation rules be implemented to prevent the assignment of duplicate social security numbers. NASSIT management acknowledged the auditors’ observations but stated that payments are processed using claim numbers rather than social security numbers, which they claim are only for cosmetic purposes. They emphasised that each pensioner has a unique claim number, which eliminates any potential financial loss caused by missing or duplicated social security numbers. Nonetheless, they committed to creating unique social security numbers to avoid future confusion.
Despite these assurances, the auditors reported that their recommendations had not been implemented, opening the door to potential misuse and additional irregularities in the pension payment system.
More information on NASSIT’s practices and the integrity of its payment systems will be in the next edition.
