Orange Sierra Leone, the biggest and widest telecoms service provider in Sierra Leone, has been rewarded by National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) as the best compliant telecoms company for the year 2022 during the 3rd edition of NASSIT Annual Employers Banquet and Awards ceremony held at the Freetown International Conference Centre in Aberdeen Freetown.

This is the first time NASSIT has recognized Orange Sierra Leone for the prompt payment of contributions for its staff.

Oranges Sierra Leone bagged the award in the telecoms company for being the best company that complied with NASSIT in accordance with the NASSIT Act no.5 of 2001.

Presenting the award to the Orange CEO and Team, the Minister Labour and Social Security, Alpha Osman Timbo, described Orange Sierra Leone as “the best telecoms company that fully complied with the NASSIT Act No.5 of 2001, that mandates all formal sector employers to register and make prompt payment of contributions to the scheme for all their employees.” He added ” we congratulate and appreciate you for your contributions to the development of Sierra Leone over the years.”

The Minister extended thanks and appreciation to His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio, the NASSIT Trustees, Management and Staff and all stakeholders including employers for gracing the occasion. He reminded the audience that it was the late erstwhile President, Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah who expressed the vision to establish NASSIT to provide social security services to pensioners and for other contingency payments to deserving beneficiaries or dependents.

He used the opportunity to urge all compliant employers to continue being on the side of government and cautioned those employers that are still non-compliant to rethink and comply with the Act because there is the NASSIT Industrial Court that has the mandate to look into cases on non-compliant employers.

The Director General of NASSIT, Mohamed Fuad Daboh, reiterated the importance of registering with NASSIT and the consequences for non-compliant employers. He thanked the Chief Justice and the Sierra Leone Judiciary for setting up the NASSIT Industrial Court.

Mr Daboh asserted that though only twenty employers were selected for this year’s awards, it does not mean there are no other compliant employers out there, adding that the selection criteria to identify the best compliant employers were rigid and took into cognizance issues of correct registration of numbers of employees, prompt payment of contributions amongst other criteria. The DG encouraged those employers that did not meet the criteria not to be discouraged but to use the occasion as a motivation to do better next year.