JUBA—South Sudan’s Ministry of Interior has agreed to establish a task force to support the implementation of National Social Insurance Fund (NSIF) directives, despite objections from the National Employees Union of South Sudan over the scheme’s governance and compulsory contributions.
The decision followed a briefing by NSIF Managing Director Reech Ring Bol to caretaker Interior Minister Rizik Zacharia Hassan on the fund’s progress and preparations to begin nationwide registration.
Deputy Caretaker Interior Minister David Marial Gumke said the meeting agreed to establish a task force comprising senior ministry officials to support the enforcement of the fund’s mandate.
“The meeting talked about cooperation in terms of implementation of the law that has been passed by parliament and the establishment of the institution itself,” Gumke told the media on Wednesday.
He said the Interior Ministry pledged continued cooperation with NSIF to support enforcement of the directive as the fund expands its activities across the country.
For his part, NSIF Managing Director Bol said the meeting focused on cooperation between the fund and law enforcement institutions as NSIF prepares to register workers covered by the scheme.
“The act mandated NSIF to regulate all national staff that are working in the private sector, oil companies and then NGOs, international and local, plus the entire other private sectors,” Bol said.
He added that their mandate also covers South Sudanese nationals working for United Nations agencies and that it would require support from the Interior Ministry to conduct registration across the country.
Bol said NSIF had completed its internal policies and was preparing to begin operations at the grassroots level. He added that a three-month grace period had been provided for registration.
However, the planned rollout has drawn criticism from the National Employees Union of South Sudan (NEUSS), which has questioned the fund’s governance and the process used to implement the scheme.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, the union accused NSIF of prioritising meetings with government institutions and public relations over meaningful engagement with the workers and employers whose contributions it intends to manage.
“While engagement with government institutions is legitimate, prioritising institutional publicity over substantive engagement with contributors risks politicising a scheme that should be professionally governed, transparent and politically neutral,” the union said.
NEUSS also questioned the legal basis for compulsory deductions from workers’ salaries, citing Section 51(2)(c) of the Labour Act, 2017, which it said requires employee agreement for certain deductions relating to pension or other schemes.
The union called for the cancellation of Ministry of Labour Circular No. 5 of 2026 and the reinstatement of Circular No. 3 of 2010 as an interim arrangement.
It also demanded the proper constitution of the NSIF board and the establishment of what it described as a transparent and accountable administrative system.
“Trust must be earned through credible governance, reliable systems, accountability and meaningful representation, not manufactured through compulsion, public relations or attempts to discredit workers’ representatives or workers’ unions,” the statement said.
The union said it supports a social insurance system that protects workers but wants greater consultation and accountability in the fund’s implementation.
NEUSS has also joined a legal challenge before the Court of Appeal against the Labour Ministry’s Circular No. 5 of 2026, which directs employers to remit social insurance contributions to NSIF. The challenge was first filed in court by unions representing workers in the oil sector.
Under a directive that took effect on October 1, 2026, the registration exercise covers private-sector employees, oil company workers, staff of local and international non-governmental organisations, and South Sudanese employees working with UN agencies and diplomatic missions.
The Ministry of Labour and NSIF management have defended the implementation process as part of efforts to operationalise the social insurance framework, while workers’ representatives continue to demand greater consultation and accountability.
The fund was established under the National Social Insurance Fund Act, 2023, and was operationalised in January 2026 through a presidential decree.
