Today in History: Uganda Tables Social Security Bill, Laying Foundation For National Savings Scheme

What the report says

On September 6, 1967, Uganda’s Attorney General and Minister of Labour, Lameck Lubowa, presented the Social Security Bill to Parliament, beginning the process that led to the country’s first broad formal savings and protection scheme for workers. According to Nile Post, the proposal came about five years after independence, as the new government tried to correct colonial-era inequalities that had left most African workers outside formal pension arrangements.

The article says the bill followed earlier review work and a Cabinet draft process in January 1967. It was designed as a compulsory savings model in which employers and employees would each contribute five per cent of monthly earnings. The plan did not rely on a direct government subsidy and was intended to cover non-pensionable public servants and private-sector employees.

Parliament passed the bill on September 26, 1967, and President Milton Obote signed it into law on October 21. The Social Security Act was gazetted and came into force on December 15 that year. It created the Social Security Fund and required employers to register eligible workers and remit monthly contributions, with implementation phased by workplace size and type.

Nile Post says the law laid the groundwork for Uganda’s modern social security system and served as a precursor to the National Social Security Fund, which was later established under the NSSF Act of 1985.