Guyana’s NIS is the worst in the region

Jul 10, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – Yesterday, Nathan Craig, a frail 80-year-old Linden man, barely able to stand, let alone walk, was brought into our office. Craig’s appeal for his pension was heard fourteen years after it was lodged in 2010. No sooner had he won, than the heartless NIS lodged an appeal to a non-existent Commissioner of National Insurance.

Here we have Mr. Craig, penniless and fragile, deprived of his rights by an NIS whose strategy is to wait pensioners out. His story is not dissimilar to Zainul’s, the carpenter whose success in court angered the NIS, the AG and the Government, all of whom have left him out to dry. Zainul is paying the price for his less than honest employer, the NIS and the AG’s chambers. Craig is paying the price for the failure of the President to perform the simple task of appointing the Commissioner of National Insurance and the refusal of the NIS to follow the law laid down in an earlier judgment of the Chief Justice.

The whole purpose of the NIS was to provide financial relief for the elderly through the contributions of the workers and their employers. The duty of the NIS was to oversee the employers and to maintain accurate records of contributions. Partly because of political control, poor management and its failure to carry out its statutory functions, the NIS has caused grief and suffering to probably tens of thousands of contributors, many of whom departed this world without justice.

For one thing: it is not currently for want of money. The NIS’ financial fortunes began to rise with the influx of highly paid persons in the expanding economy. The injection of the $10 Bn was like a bonus and could have been used to address many of the Scheme’s more fundamental problems. Instead, the staff of the NIS are bullying and blackmailing aggrieved persons into giving up their right to a pension in exchange for a one-off grant.

I wrote to President Ali months ago, pleading for an enlightened approach to help elderly NIS contributors. True to form, he never responded. His silence speaks volumes about his regard for suffering seniors, or his willingness to listen and learn. Mr. Craig’s torment exists solely because Ali lacks the competence and compassion to make a basic appointment – a simple signature on paper. Mr. Craig cannot walk. He struggles daily. His nephew appeals for support and assistance. The tribunal ruled in his favour. Yet Ali’s failure to do this basic function condemns this man to destitution.

I have seen the letter telling Craig that he won his case and that the NIS unwon him. It was signed by a relatively minor manager. Nothing about next steps or any substantive or consequential rights he may have. Can an NIS manager be more callous, inhumane and insensitive than Area Manager 111? Or the GM and the trade unionists on the Board of the NIS?

I have interacted with almost every single NIS in the region. I once respected our local NIS. It saddens me to rate it, by far, as the worst in the region. It either does not recognise or cares about the pain and suffering it causes.

Candidate Ali promised to care for the elderly. He is promising the same again. In office, it’s a different story altogether. Not a single actuarial study completed or discussed – a pattern from the late nineties to now – while recipients of grants and pensions struggle each and every day. The National Assembly has voted the funds to solve the problems of the Zainuls, the Craigs and the Julia Clarkes. He has expert advice on how it can be done. Sadly, to be compassionate is not given to all people.

An ailing octogenarian (Craig) must now wait for the appointment of a Commissioner of National Insurance for the NIS appeal to be heard! Zainul, a septuagenarian, has to wait for the opportunity to climb those high court stairs again. And let us not forget Julia Clarke who may have to wait another six months for the NIS to respond to her lawyer’s letter.

That is the sad state of our NIS.

Thank you, President Ali.

Regards,

Christopher Ram

Former Chairman NIS Grenada

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Christopher Ram, Guyana’s NIS, Nathan Craig, NIS, NIS Grenada

One thought on “Guyana’s NIS is the worst in the region”

Jeanette July 11, 2025 at 9:28 am

Nis guyana is run by crooks they cheated my mom after my dad died 43 years.

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