Ex-Employee Threatens To Drag AFOD To Court For Non-Remittance Of NSSF
Muroga while narrating his ordeal to journalists in Arua city early this week. Photo by Andrew Cohen Amvesi
ARUA. The former programs manager of Alliance Forum for Development (AFOD) has threatened to drag the organization to court for failing to remit his National Social Security Fund (NSSF) amounting to shs20,340,000 including interest earned for the years not paid.
Martin Lou Muroga said he worked with the company for five years and one month until when his contract expired on August 31, 2023.
“They have not paid my NSSF for 31 months yet they were deducting the money from my salary every month. I left AFOD on August 31, 2023, so from September, they were supposed to pay my outstanding NSSF by the end of November which is 90 days after my exit. Unfortunately, it is now almost 9 months down the road, they have not paid anything in my NSSF account,” Muroga said.
“Yet their policy indicated clearly that if I have an obligation to them, I need to pay it or meet it within 90 days at the same time, if they have an obligation towards me, they are also supposed to meet it within 90 days. Now it is about 9 months down the road, nothing has been done,” he emphasized.
Muroga noted that after writing emails to the Executive Director of AFOD, trying to remind the company to remit his money in vain, he decided to take the matter to NSSF which confirmed to him that he is not the only one whose NSSF has not been remitted by the organization for months but also other staff members numbering to 42.
“As a group, we formed ourselves and mobilized resources and contacted a lawyer. The lawyer then wrote a letter of intention to sue AFOD which at first, they declined but eventually, they gave the letter to their lawyer who in turn replied,” Muroga narrated.
He claimed that along the way, AFOD bosses started using police; first the CPS in Kampala who called him about a case being reported against him.
“I informed them that I was in Arua and I wasn’t able to go to Kampala. Two days later, I got a call from the deputy regional CID West Nile who told me to come to the station and interact with him because I have a case which has been reported against me by AFOD. I complied; I came. They presented the case claiming I was using social media against AFOD which I contested until the RPC warned them against my arrest and intimidation, saying I was pursuing a genuine cause,” Muroga explained.
“Now I feel that I’m being pursued by this organization very unfairly yet this organization has not been remitting our NSSF and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). They are filing returns to URA indicating Nil. However, when you go into the details of remittances to URA, you will see that they have not remitted anything, including the Executive Director,” Muroga added.
Muroga was concerned that actually, the action of AFOD is tarnishing the image of the World Food Program, a reputable United Nations organization they are working with.
“What next is, I will have to engage a lawyer again so that AFOD is taken to court. That I feel is the only option that is left at hand so that my NSSF is remitted,” Muroga threatened.
But when contacted on phone, Primo Arizi Vunni, the AFOD Executive Director, said whoever is feeling that his NSSF has not been paid should contact NSSF.
“Have you talked to this guy and has he contacted NSSF because we remit to NSSF, we don’t remit to individuals. So, if his payments have not been done, then he has the mandate to go to NSSF and this gentleman knows what he is supposed to do if he thinks he is aggrieved. So, he is basing on falsehoods and I must tell you that he is fighting for other things, maybe not really following up NSSF,” Vunni stated.
Vunni, however, observed that even if Muroga’s claims are correct, it is not AFOD directly to pay him the money because they are a third party.
“If he is reporting for URA, let him go to URA because these are bodies which are responsible. He is not an agent of URA, so the law is very clear. If he is looking for his NSSF, he doesn’t look for it in the media, it is not the media which pays him, let him go to the real body. It would have been better if maybe the organization pays directly to him. There is a body mandated by the law; it has the power to prosecute, has the power to even recover if indeed what he is claiming is correct. So, let him deal with the right people,” Vunni said.
Vunni also acknowledged that they reported Muroga to police for posting things about the organization on social media besides planning to demonstrate at their office, a case he said is criminal in nature and left to the State to investigate.
I believe Mr murogo has the Rights to express his dissatisfaction to the organization because it seems the organization didn’t show him the right criteria to follow after his retirement. Secondly the organization laws are very clear about payments incase each party owes the other which is 90 days after retirement then why not follow your laws? 9 months isn’t 90 days so going to the social media doesn’t complicate the organization but he was trying to capture the attention of the organization because they couldn’t act timely. If the problem is NSSF, then the organization should follow up with them as why remittance has not been done for the individuals who are disgrantle but not they doing it themselves. Their work is to check their NSSF accounts and if there’s nothing then they have the Rights to get back to AFOD for explanations. Suing employees won’t help but doing the right things is key 🗝️
@joel thank you putting the matter in perspective, however AFOD has not been remitting staff NSSF consistently, for instance much of the funds that have not been remitted are for 2020, 2021 & 2022. The money I am demanding is still with AFOD not NSSF. For the 42 former staff who have come together to follow their entitlements from AFOD, the total amount that is being demanded is more 350 million, this exclude the staff who are still working with them.