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Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
THE National Social Security Authority (Nssa) has embarked on a restructuring programme aimed at revamping service delivery and ensuring that the entity is more transparent in its operations.

Addressing journalists during a recent virtual insurance and pensions mentorship programme, Nssa acting general manager, Mr Arthur Manase, said the board and management were working on creating a “new” Nssa that is anchored on transparency, honesty and accountability.

This is critical for Nssa given its role as the custodian of public funds hence the need for increased transparency, he said. Mr Manase admitted that in the past Nssa was caught up in negative publicity in the face of accusations over alleged abuse of funds and lack of transparency.

“We want to create a new Nssa, we want the public to know what the State is doing to secure their future. Nssa should effectively carry out social security as expected of the company and to deliver effective social security to Zimbabweans,” he said.

Mr Manase said while the company had a negative record, the new leadership was keen to redress the entity’s image to ensure it operates effectively.

“We all know that Nssa is coming from a gloomy past. There have been issues that Nssa needed to correct to ensure that it cleanses itself of the past. There has been a deliberate effort to make sure that we create a new Nssa that is anchored on three distinct pillars that is transparency, honesty and accountability,” he said.

“It is critical that we do away and totally discard practices of the past where Nssa business was shrouded in secrecy. We have discarded non-transparency tendencies whereby things are just done without people knowing what is going on. We now want everything to be totally transparent.”

Nssa, said Mr Manase, should be able to deliver its promises to the people and live up to expectation without giving any excuse for failure.

“If Nssa promises people, it should be able to deliver and not give any excuses. The company has a potential and we want to make sure that the potential is achieved for the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe,” he said.

Mr Manase said going forward the company will also not tolerate dishonest workers and will deal ruthlessly with any corrupt tendencies.

“We want zero tolerance to dishonesty. We want honest people as custodians of people’s contributions. We will not tolerate any shoddy transactions. Everyone needs security and people want to know upon retirement that their old age sustenance is guaranteed,” he said.