Double-Dipping Exposed At NASSIT: Le136.8 Billion In Limbo

By Aruna Momoh Kargbo

There are serious concerns that the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), made payments to Pensioners with the same Social Security Number.
This was revealed by the protector of the Sierra Leone public purse, Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) in their recently published report which examined the account of Sierra Leone.
The report maintained that during their inspection of the NAPOS II system, they observed that twelve (12) government pensioners were assigned the same social security number and received payments under different claim numbers.
“Additionally, two government pensioners share both the same name and social security number, and were receiving payments with different claim numbers under this shared identity,” ASSL stated.
The audit noted that in total, twelve pensioners were paid NLe136,832,000 which is equivalent to Le136,832,000,000 in old Leones between 2012 and 2023.
The report recommended that the Acting General Manager, ICT, should ensure that each social security number is unique to a single pensioner, and implement data validation rules to prevent the assignment of duplicate social security numbers.
“Management has reviewed the auditors’ observations and recommendations. It is important to clarify that government pensioners receive payments based on their claim numbers rather than their social security numbers, which are included for cosmetic purposes only,” NASSIT stated.
The Trust furthered that each listed pensioner has a unique claim number, ensuring that there is no loss of funds even in cases where the social security numbers are missing or duplicated, as the transactions are solely dependent on claim numbers. That to prevent any potential confusion, they will take the necessary steps to generate unique social security numbers.
“Our recommendation was not implemented. Therefore, the issue remains unresolved,” ASSL stated.