By Janet Sesay
The National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) dragged eight organizations to court for failing to pay their social security contributions to the Trust since 2017. The organizations made their first appearance before Magistrate Santigie Bangura of the Freetown Magistrate Court No.1.
These organizations include King Walker and Associates, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, Kossoh Town, Sierra Leone Water Company, Guma Valley Water Company, Africa Information Technology Holdings Limited, Firm Protector Service Limited, Western Area Rural District and Development Humanitarian Solution Limited.
The organizations were each charged with two counts of failing to pay Social Security contributions, which is contrary to section 32(1) (c) of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust Act No.5 of 2001 and failing to comply with the provisions of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust Act No.5 of 2001 and the regulations of 2004, which is also contrary to section 32(1) (c) of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust Act No.5 of 2001.
Court details state that these organizations, on diverse dates between April 2017 and August 2018, failed to pay their social security contributions to the organization.
When the cases were mentioned by the court clerk, four of the organizations were not present in court. As a result of this, the prosecutor, Lawyer Tejan Jah, made an application for bench warrant of the heads of these organizations to be arrested and brought to court.
The four organizations include Western Area Rural District Council, which has to pay eleven million, seven hundred and five thousand leones (Le11, 705,000), the Sierra Leone Water Company, owes one hundred and seventy-six million, six hundred and three thousand, one hundred and one leones (Le176,603,101), Development Humanitarian Solution, two million, one hundred and eighty-three thousand leones (Le2,183,000) and King Walker and Associates, twenty-one million, two hundred and forty-nine thousand, six hundred and thirty-two leones (Le21,249,632).
The prosecutor furthered that they offer no evidence against the other organizations as they have already complied with the rules and have paid their dues when they were invited to appear in court. But for those that have not yet paid their dues they intent to take another line of action against them.
Magistrate Bangura ordered the bench warrant for the heads of these institutions while the matter was adjourned to the 14th February, 2019 for those issued with the bench warrant to appear in court.