By George Omondi
In Summary
- NSSF has signed a partnership agreement with Helb to share information to ease tracing of loan defaulters.
- Helb has mounted a campaign lately to boost its collection from graduates, but some 75,500 beneficiaries have defaulted on paying Sh8.5 billion.
- About 98,194 beneficiaries are currently servicing their loans amounting to Sh13.6 billion, a performance rate of 62pc.
Local statutory agencies are pushing for the
establishment of a centralised registration database for Kenyans to ease
tracing of clients.
Through a smart card, a centralised database will
automatically display full identity details of citizens including PIN,
national identity, passport, driving licence, birth certificate,
hospital card, social security card, mobile phone and educational
institutions attended.
“With a detailed database being compiled by the
National Registration Bureau it will be easier to use smart cards to
get all the information that we need to undertake our mandates,”
National Social Security Fund (NSSF) managing trustee Tom Odongo says.
In the absence of a centralised database, NSSF and
other agencies such as National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), Kenya
Revenue Authority, and Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) have to share
data to track down people.
Mr Odongo on Friday signed a partnership agreement
with Helb’s CEO Charles Ringera to share information but warned that
such deals would not achieve much.
“We can’t tell who among our members are graduates
that Helb is looking for but NSSF will be able to report where
particular people are currently working,” said Mr Odongo.
Helb has mounted a campaign lately to boost its
collection from graduates, but some 75,500 or 20 per cent of the 375,000
beneficiaries have defaulted on paying Sh8.5 billion, Mr Ringera said.
About 98,194 beneficiaries are currently servicing their loans amounting to Sh13.6 billion, a performance rate of 62 per cent.
The loans board has already put employers on
notice by threatening legal redress for late remittance of cash deducted
from former university students by firms.
“We hope to reach as many past graduates as
possible, including those currently outside the country because our
ability to educate depends on how much of the past loans we collect,” Mr
Ringera said.
For NSSF which has set itself a target of
registering two million new members by end of June, agreements with the
custodian of important personal registration data such as one reached
with Helb on Friday, have ignited fresh hopes for growth.
The Fund currently has only 1.5 million active accounts against a national workforce estimated at 12 million people.
Mr Odongo has lately turned his attention to the
household where he expects to net about three million domestic workers
to fill up the fund’s membership list.
He has given employers of house helps up to the
end of this month to register workers voluntary before the NSSF’s
compliance officers begin door-to –door campaigns from June.
Failure to make the contribution exposes an employer of a house help to a fine
of not more than Sh15,000 while late remittance (after 30 days from
deduction date) will attract interest charge of five per cent per month
on outstanding amounts.
“We do not intend to rely on police because we
have enough compliance officers and prosecutors that we have trained to
handle these cases,” said Mr Odongo.
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