The National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) is reported to have encroached on over 78 acres of the over 200 acres of land owned by the Milton Margai Technical University (MMTU) at Goderich, west of the capital Freetown.
This was disclosed by the Vice Chancellor and Principal of MMTU, Dr Philip John Kanu, on Monday this week during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Technical and Higher Education (MTHE), Ramatulai Wurie, at her New England Ville office in Freetown.
Dr Kanu appealed to the Minister to prevail on NASSIT to stop the encroachment, underscoring that encroachment on the university’s land was a major concern.
This is not the first time that NASSIT has been embroiled in a land issue. A couple of years ago, one Stella Scott was alleged to have sold 100 acres of community land at Gloucester Village, in the outskirts of Freetown, to NASSIT. That deal was fraught with claims of bribery and counter-bribery which led to a national scandal that dent the reputation of the Trust making lots of Sierra Leoneans apprehensive about whether their pension contributions were being misused or not.
Added to that, the 2021 Audit Report by Audit Service Sierra Leone queried the Trust for “ineffective management of land and property” at Gloucester Village. It was found out that “approximately 60% of the land worth Le25 billion has been encroached upon by private individuals/entities, with massive construction going on….” It was also observed that there was no perimeter fence to protect NASSIT’s property at Gloucester Village.