Sen. Dennis Momotaro rejoins MISSA board

At its meeting on January 13, 2022, the Cabinet has appointed Sen. Dennis Momotaro to the MISSA Board, replacing former Finance Minister Alfred Alfred Jr. 

The role of a fiduciary is nothing new to Sen. Momotaro as he is considered one of the longest-serving MISSA Board members in the past. His 16-year association with the Administration goes back to the Trust Territory period when the Marshall Islands was still a part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a former United Nations strategic-area trusteeship that was administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. This territory covered the region known as Micronesia (“tiny islands”) and comprised three major island groups – the Marianas, the Carolines and the Marshalls. During this period, these Pacific Island-groups have shared a common social security system, known as the Trust Territory Social Security System (TTSSS). 

During the 1970s, Sen. Momotaro served as one of the country’s representatives to the TTSSS until the RMI terminated its membership in 1986. When the Marshall Islands Social Security System was established in 1987, Sen. Momotaro remained with the MISSA Board and continued serving the Administration until the 1990s. 

In 2016, the Cabinet established the eleven-member National Task Force on Social Security to conceptualize the rehabilitation of the Marshall Islands Retirement Fund that, during that time, was on the verge of financial collapse. Sen. Momotaro was one of the Task Force members who played a key role in the introduction of the MISSA Reform bill that was subsequently passed by the Nitijela in 2017. This law consequently became the turning point to MISSA’s road to financial recovery.

Aside from his long association with MISSA in the past, Sen. Momotaro also brought with him a vast experience in government service. He is currently serving his 4th term as member of the Nitijela and was appointed as Member of the Cabinet three times – as Transportation & Communications Minister, Finance Minister and R&D Minister.

WELCOME ABOARD, SEN. MOMOTARO!