During COVID-19, many members’ livelihood of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF or hereafter the Fund) of Uganda was disrupted, and Government expedite the amendment of the NSSF Act to allow the savers access 20 per cent of their saving if they reach 45 years and have saved for over ten years. This new benefit was termed Mid-Term Access.

To receive this benefit 112,000 members were eligible for the calendar year 2022
(January–December). This was going to be an uphill task given that the Fund previously paid approximately 20,000 members annually.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was an abrupt disruption that caused loss of lives, fear, uncertainty, and anxiety on how to manage the health, social and economic effects. Several of our members ended up needing specialised treatment from private medical facilities. Being unprecedented, insurance companies had limitations on coverage since this was a pandemic. This meant that members had to resort to out-of-pocket payment to cover the enormous medical bills.