The platform for labour action coordinates the civil society coalition on social security. Since the coalition’s formation, a number of issues have been raised; wide research has been carried out, various stakeholders have been involved so as to gather their views. The various views given by the stakeholders are plainly clear. As such, one would expect the government whose campaign slogan was prosperity for all premised on a threefold catchword namely, wealth for all, health for all and education for all.
From the foregoing, I would like to raise a number of issues which will then lead us to answer the question as to whether the voices of the civil society in social security reform are heard.
What is social security?
Social security or social protection can be defined as the set of policies and programmes designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability, diminish people’s exposure to risks and enhance people’s capacity to cope with difficult situations such as sickness, loss of employment, and invalidity among others. Thus, it is clear that social security is an important right that ipso facto should be enjoyed by every human being regardless of whether or not they are working.
Legal framework on social security
The right to social security is enshrined in a number of instruments both domestic and international. The other vital instruments that provide for social security include convention relating to status of refugees, article 24.
At the international level, the most comprehensive and authoritative instrument there is on social security in International Labour Organisation Convention on minimum standards-convention 102. It stresses nine branches of social security benefits namely,
1) medical care benefit; 2) sickness benefit; 3) unemployment benefit; 4) old-age benefit; 5) employment injury benefit; 6) family benefit; 7) maternity benefit; 8) invalidity benefit and 9) survivors’ benefit. UDHR which is a bedrock of human rights legislations/instruments provides for social security in Article 25(1) which says that every one has a right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to social security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. The Convention against discrimination against women (CEDAW) provides for social security in Article 11(e) i.e. “the right to social security, particularly in cases of retirement, unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age and other incapacity to work, as well as the right to paid leave. Article 11(f) provides for the right to protection of health and to safety in working conditions, including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction. The CRC (1989) provides for social security in Article 26 namely that states parties to the CRC shall recognize for every child the right to benefit from social security, including social insurance, and shall take the necessary measures to achieve the full realization of this right in accordance with their national law. The international convention on protection of migrant workers (1990) provides for social security in article 27, As for Uganda, I have not seen any section providing for social security in the 36 sections of the Children’s Act. The constitution of the Republic of Uganda however is silent on social security much as it provides for economic rights in Article 40. This to me is a lacuna that we as civil society activists must urge the government (politicians) to fill.
In Uganda, the comprehensive legislation we have on social security is the National Social Security Act cap 222. Contrary to the nine branches of benefits that are enshrined in convention 102, the NSSF Act (1985) provides for only five ranges of benefits namely,
i. Age benefit
ii. Withdrawal benefit
iii. Invalidity benefit
iv. Emigration grant
v. Survivor’s benefit
The challenges
It is as plain as a nose on ones face that the National Social Security Act is stale. Stale in a sense that it does not dovetail into and resonate well with the present times. Surprisingly, in addition to being stale, the benefits highlighted therein are also hardly accessed by their owners. At least if one carried out research on social security and how it is run, one cannot help but realise there is a big problem. In addition to the difficulty faced in accessing the benefits, the level of inflation sometimes is higher than the dividends on the workers’ savings. At the moment, the NSSF gives 14% profit on the workers’ savings, but inflation level oscillates between 14 and 16%. At least going by the rate at which the Uganda shilling has depreciated vis-à-vis the other hard currencies, it becomes clear to anyone who cares to know that inflation is at a high rate.
Corruption has also characterised the National Social Security institution. Many an observer believe the reason as to why corruption is skyrocketing in NSSF is because there are too much funds and whoever has access is “tempted to touch”. Whereas, in the aftermath of the infamous Temangalo saga, workers (trade unions) were up in arms that they were not represented on the board, we are yet to see their efficacy now that they were represented thereon. At the moment workers have five representatives on the NSSF board namely, Mr. Romano O. Ochieng, Mr. Arinaitwe Rwakajara, Ms Jolly Alipa from National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) and Mr. Christopher Kahirita and Mr. Richard Bigirwa from Central Organisation of Free Trade Unions (COFTU).
Surprisingly, many observers feel that Mary Irene Kaboole, a former Vice Chairperson of NOTU should not have missed on the list of workers’ representatives because she was the most outspoken trade unionist on issues of social security and has remained unswerving in the defence and advocacy of the rights of the workers. Many people I have talked to for purposes of this article feel that all the workers’ representatives want is to have a share on the NSSF spoils . This has reminded me of the spoils system which is typical of corrupt and nontransparent establishments. In fact, pundits argue that it is because of that reason that Mary Irene Kaboole could not be chosen as the workers’ representative on the board because contrary to the other mainstream NOTU leaders who have gladly embraced the fusion or the attempted fusion of the workers organisations with the ruling party, she has vehemently and strenuously worked hard to protect the interests of the workers as opposed to the interests of the regime or ruling party. The likes of Irene Kaboole argue that they are neither pro or anti NRM but pro workers. This has caused animosities and absence of solidarity among the trade unions and as such all the rights that the trade unions are meant to promote including the right to social security have been partly if not largely neglected.
Unemployment, underemployment and casualisation of labour are also serous challenges to the civil society efforts to have social security reform. I know of institutions ironically including academic institutions where workers are employed as part timers but are expected to and indeed they do work on a full time basis. In fact some head of department in Uganda Christian University used to call part timers full time part timers-meaning they work on a full time basis although when it comes to remuneration they are paid on a piece rate basis on account of the number of hours has been in class. At the end of the year part time staff members are not rewarded while their full time counterparts get a bonus pay. Part time staff don’t save with National Social Security Fund; they get no treatment in the university sick bay, get no housing allowance, no transport allowance and so forth. It thus becomes very difficult for such people to take off as their contracts are offered on a semester basis. Accordingly, they cannot secure a bank loan; they are not deemed to be gainfully employed; they have no stable source of income as one may be working today and three months later he or she is on the streets. This poses a serious threat to social security reform and is a big challenge to the civil society organisations pushing for social security reform. From the foregoing, one may ask, why do you have so many people working yet very few save with the provident fund? Is social security a right if it is only enjoyed by a handful, around one percent or thereabout of the Ugandan population?
Role of trade unions
Trade unions in Uganda must disentangle themselves from the ruling party and concentrating on the promotion of the rights of the workers. Although it is visibly clear that the trade union movement just like any other social movements such as the Pan African Movement, the women/ feminist movement etc is a political movement, it is imprudent for the Ugandan trade unions to ally with the ruling party which has over the years shown no interest in promoting the rights of the workers. Incidentally, when one sits with all Pro-NRM trade unionists, they also complain about the poor management of the National Social security fund and the absence of the minimum wage. Strangely though, they feel bitter with anyone who comes out vehemently to condemn the government over the neglect of these rights. So they are like an auntie who wants the girl to fetch for her firewood but also needs the dowry. Because of the trade unionists unquestioning allegiance to the NRM they have accepted to be losers and they have forgotten all about their ideology. The trade unions are leftist (socialist) organisations since they were formed to fight for the rights of workers and enhance social justice and social welfare.
How can civil society voice be heard?
For the civil society to be heard and have its presence felt and recognized, the following concerns must be born in mind;
1. The coalition must be marketed, advertised and promoted vehemently. The message must be appealing to all social groups whether employed or not. The right to social security is a universal right. It is not an exclusive preserve of those working and save with NSSF. Thus, we need a critical mass of people who can authoritatively articulate these issues to the satisfaction of a bigger segment of our society.
2. That the right to social security is enshrined even in the Convention on the Rights of the Child is a clear testimony that social security is a universal right. For instance, going by the NSSF Act which provides for survivors’ benefit, it is not aimed at helping the worker but his or her family or dependants. Accordingly, the state has an obligation to ensure that there are conditions in place necessary to fulfill the enjoyment of this right.
3. The right to social security belongs to the category of rights called positive rights . Positive rights include the right to work, the right to an adequate standard of living (which includes the right to food and to be free from hunger, adequate housing, water and clothing), the right to health, and the right to education. If one looked at the above catalogue of rights analytically, it would be clear that the right to social security has a bearing on all of them without exception. And by the way the right to social security also has a bearing on the civil and political rights although this is not the intention of this article.
4. Much as I appreciate the indivisibility, interrelatedness and interdependence of human rights, I personally think that these rights which sometimes are wrongly called second generation rights are more important than the negative rights which include political rights and civil liberties. Why do I say positive rights should take precedence over negative rights? Because the positive rights are survival-oriented rights. This shows the need to accentuate social security as a right. After doing this the struggle will be easier since it will be embraced by a big segment of society who will speak with one, loud and clear voice about what they want and how they can get it.
5. It is clear that coalitions or networks if not undermined by the members are very crucial. In Zimbabwe, I believe President Gabriel Robert Mugabe must have given in to power sharing demands not because of the strength of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change but the informed critical role and voices of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN). From the foregoing all the civil society coalition needs to do is to remain resilient, steadfast, focused and bring on board a number of various actors regardless of whether or not they are pensioners or NSSF contributors.
6. The National Social Security Fund Act needs to be revisited so that it reflects the broader needs of our society. In this case, politicians should consult widely with the civil society activists and the academia. It is becoming clear to me that many of our politicians are out of touch with reality and very few of them read. I am even aware that some of our members of parliament and ministers don’t even read our local news papers. It is highly disputable that people who hardly read newspapers can read research reports by civil society organisations. Given such a scenario, how would you expect such people to come up with a sound and pro-people law?
7. Despite their weaknesses and evident disorganization, trade unions remain indispensable institutions in the promotion of the right to social security and other socio-economic rights. In fact, my stint at NOTU and my enormous research on trade unions has shown me that no single civil society organisation is better placed to promote socio-economic rights than trade unions. Thus, rather than lamenting about the unions the civil society should promote unionization in different trades. In fact, this article exhorts all works in whatever field to join and form trade unions. This will not only help the workers to speak with one big voice but also would forestall situations where semi-illiterates are elected to represent workers in parliament. I personally know of one union leader who told me his union could not employ me as a research and documentation officer arguing that because of my education levels, I was overqualified for the job. This union leader is ironically a Member of Parliament representing workers. I don’t know whether he has the requisite credentials to be a member of parliament but I have heard in the trade union circles his credentials being disputed. Assuming it is true, some workers’ members of parliament are not adequately educated, they will not only suffer inferiority complex but also will fear to be critical even when there is need to for they fear reprisals from the powers that be. When I was writing my dissertation on trade unions and defence of workers’ rights, one workers’ Member of Parliament told me that in a number of cases, they have had to abscond sessions when there is a conflict between the rights of the workers and the ruling party on whose ticket all the five workers’ MPs were elected. Massive unionization with very brilliant workers from the academia, NGOs, Faith Based Organisations and the media will help the workers extricate themselves from the wretched of the earth position they are now in.
Conclusion
As it is now, NSSF seems to benefit the staff/management and the members of the board. The subscribers are yet to be convinced that it is a provident fund meant to benefit them from their plight. The Management and government are duty-bound to convince the doubting Thomases that NSSF is a worthy institution. It is pretty clear that majority of the workers are in the category of the working poor. Sadly, some of the union leaders who are supposed to be their voice have chosen to hobnob with the exploitative employers. Why do I point this in regard to social security? As already mentioned in the history of social security, it was meant to protect the poor. The cases abound where employers refuse to remit money to NSSF or remit only 5% which is the workers’ contributions and fail to remit the 10% from the employers. Sometimes they compute the 5% and the 10% on the basis of net pay. This practice is illegal, immoral and inhuman. It is legally obnoxious, morally repugnant and politically imprudent. In such a scenario, if the would be defenders of the workers ally with the exploiters because of bribes given to them by the employers, the situation only becomes worse. Thus, corruption hits a big blow on the workers from either side-workers and NSSF management.
As to whether or not the civil society voices are being heard, this is a test to the government. Let it show through actions that it is ready to protect workers rights or show everyone that the NRM did that as a vote winning gimmick.
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