The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has emerged the Gold Award winner at the 2024 Financial Reporting (FiRe) Awards, scooping four prestigious accolades, including the overall Gold Award for Excellence in Integrated Reporting.

The other accolades received included the recognition for the best Sustainability Reporting Award 2024, Parastatal of the year award, and a Certificate of Recognition for outstanding achievement in Corporate Governance.

The awards, organized by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU), recognized NSSF’s exemplary performance across all reporting dimensions. The Fund’s integrated annual report was praised for its articulation of its strategy and performance over the short, medium, and long term.

According to the ICPAU citation, the report provided a well-rounded explanation of NSSF’s sustainability strategy, targets, and their alignment with value creation, showcasing a high level of integrated thinking throughout the organization.

“The integrated report offered an attractive and detailed explanation of its strategy, material matters, and sustainability goals,” the citation read in part.

The Chief Guest at the awards ceremony, Hon. Katumba Wamala, Minister of Works and Transport, congratulated NSSF for its outstanding achievement.

Representing NSSF at the event, Mr. Stevens Mwanje, the Fund’s Chief Financial Officer, expressed his gratitude to the organizers and commended the NSSF team for their dedication to producing high-quality reports year after year.

“As the Fund, this achievement is testimony of our ongoing dedication and commitment to transparency, accountability, and upholding best practices in financial reporting and corporate governance.” Mwanje said, adding that: “Our theme for this year’s report centres on creating shared value for sustainable growth, which is a key pillar that informs our initiatives, investments and corporate social responsibility efforts. Our goal is to drive shared prosperity for our members, the community, and society as a whole. So, we are pleased that this commitment was clearly reflected in our reporting.”

NSSF’s consistent excellence in financial reporting is evident in its five-time Gold Award wins, having previously won the Gold Award in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022, and a Silver Award in 2023.

The Fund has also consistently been recognised for its work on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting, an emerging and critical area in financial reporting.

According to ICPAU, NSSF’s 2024 Sustainability report stood out because of its integration to the annual report, and articulation of the control and procedures for monitoring and sustainability. The report, ICAU also highlighted, had a comprehensive discussion on its performance and risks as well as progress towards achieving set targets.