NSSF Conducts Business Continuity Plan
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) today successfully conducted a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) assessment intended to test the Fund’s ability to effectively continue operations in the event that a major disaster shuts down its systems at the Head Office at Workers House in Kampala.
Addressing the media at Workers House today, NSSF Managing Director Richard Byarugaba said that the Fund was able to demonstrate that it can withstand any kind of disaster and continue to serve NSSF members with minimal or no hindrance. “I am happy to inform our members and the country at large that our infrastructure is resilient and robust enough to withstand unprecedented disruptions, such as disasters. We can ably continue our operations normally or resume operations in the shortest time possible. The simulation exercise to test our Business Continuity Plan (BCP) has been very successful,” he said.
NSSF MD Richard Byarugaba addressing the media today
The BCP is part of the Fund’s Business Continuity Management framework, which is a process that identifies potential threats to the organization and the impact to business operations such threats may cause.
The simulation exercise started at 6.00AM and lasted for about 4 hours on Tuesday morning. All the Fund’s key personnel were relocated to the Command Centre at Kireka branch. All other Head Office staff were directed to relocate to NSSF branches, in and around Kampala. “We assumed a worst case scenario, where the Fund’s entire operating infrastructure at Workers House, including all the IT systems, were assumed lost and access to the NSSF offices was assumed impossible,” Byarugaba said.
He added that the scope of the simulation exercise involved Business Continuity Plan invocation procedures, evacuation procedures, business resumption procedures, communication and continuity of the Fund’s core business processes. “I can confirm that we have been able to successfully execute of our core processes at the Command Centre at Kireka branch, supported by our disaster recovery facilities offsite. We registered new members, receipted contributions from a number of employers, processed and paid benefits, and attended to our customers’ routine inquiries.” Byarugaba added. NSSF has a membership of over 1.5 million registered contributors and over 13,000 employers. Last month, Byarugaba told the media that the Fund’s total assets will hit Ushs 5.5 trillion by the end of June this year.
The Fund collects about Ushs 60 billion per month in contributions and pays about Ushs 18 billion per month as benefits to qualifying members. The Fund routinely carries out simulation exercises to prepare for possible disasters. In addition to business continuity simulation, the Fund routinely carries out fire drills in conjunction with Uganda Police at least once a year to prepare for possible fire outbreaks. The last fire drill, which was declared a success, took place in December 2014. The results of this business continuity simulation will be confirmed by an independent BCP Consultant, who was monitoring and evaluating the exercise.
