Employees and workers must have a say at NSSF

Opinion and Analysis

 

National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Managing Trustee Richard Langat. PHOTO | FILE 

By BUSINESS DAILY

The move by the National Assembly to propose changes to the National Social Security Fund Act requiring representatives for both workers and employers to be present at board meeting is a welcome development.

Currently, workers are represented in the NSSF board by a nominee of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) and the employers by the executive director of their lobby – the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE). But there has been a lacuna after Labour minister Kazungu Kambi’s threw out Cotu secretary-general Francis Atwoli and FKE director Jacqueline Mugo from the board of trustees in July.

Mr Kambi’s explanation that he had sent the duo packing following his interpretation of a law that limits the tenure of board members to two consecutive terms that do not exceed six years did not go down well with both trustees, with Mr Atwoli coming out swinging, claiming that the move had been prompted by his efforts to uncover corruption at the NSSF.

But that was only the latest in a string of controversies to rock the pension fund that has over the years proved to be adept at misusing billions of shillings in public money through inept management, poor investment choices and pure, old-fashioned greed.

Last year, the NSSF raised the monthly contributions by workers and employers as part of a new law to boost savings in Kenya, which has lagged behind other countries in the region in mobilising pension contributions. While the fund plans to invest the cash in new asset classes like private equity and offshore investments, it will not be long before the eating class starts dipping their itchy fingers into the pot.

The casual manner in which business was conducted during board meetings where billion-shilling projects were approved had come into light earlier in the year when Mr Kazungu told a parliamentary committee that approvals were often done through emails.

This sorry state of affairs in unacceptable. In addition to bringing these two members on board, the regulations must be amended to ensure that no approvals are done in the physical absence of trustee members.

What Kenyans desire when they retire is peace of mind. This invariably means accessing what they have been saving with NSSF all their working lives, which should ideally have been grown into a tidy sum through prudent investment. As matters stand, the only way to make this happen is through additional oversight by members have contributors’ interests at heart.