The proposal to review NSSF contributions upwards is good but…..
The Mt Kenya Times 
President William Ruto
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- However, they shared one thing in common; the age factor. As per the law, most of them would retire while at the advanced age. The unfortunate news that some of them had fallen into ill-health [read diseases associated with age] would start swirling around. However, those who earned a peanut would suffer more.
- I’m aware that Dr Ruto’s proposal has been encountering resistance from Trade Unions. The Federation of Kenya Employees [FKE] and Central Organization of Trade Union [Cotu] have been leading the onslaught. I would urge them to withdraw the cases they have filed in courts. Some of their grounds made sense but the best way were to engage government’s policy makers in structured dialogue and negotiations.
I have been following the ongoing debate surrounding the proposal to review National Social Security Fund [NSSF] contributions upwards. In my considered view, this is a brilliant idea. Having served the previous administrations, President William Ruto knew the challenges those who retired from formal employment faced.
The money deducted from their salaries was not enough to cater for their diverse needs. The amount paid out as pension depended on one’s contributions.
The president’s intervention was well thought out in view of the fact the government had a responsibility to ensure these people lived better lives in sunset years.
The pensioners were no longer in employment and as a result those who had served in the lowly paid job groups had no other means of eking a living. What they earned was only enough to cater for the needs of their families. The salary would be mainly used to pay house rent, buy food, clothes and educate the children.
For the big earners, the story would be different. Most of them had made big savings and used the fortunes to create wealth through investments. So, for them, the going was not that tough.
However, they shared one thing in common; the age factor. As per the law, most of them would retire while at the advanced age. The unfortunate news that some of them had fallen into ill-health [read diseases associated with age] would start swirling around. However, those who earned a peanut would suffer more.
I’m aware that Dr Ruto’s proposal has been encountering resistance from Trade Unions. The Federation of Kenya Employees [FKE] and Central Organization of Trade Union [Cotu] have been leading the onslaught. I would urge them to withdraw the cases they have filed in courts. Some of their grounds made sense but the best way were to engage government’s policy makers in structured dialogue and negotiations.
This is the time to review the provisions NSSF Act that worked to the detrimental of pensioners’ cause.
I want to demonstrate this by giving personal experience. I used to work with an NGO called Youth Agenda [YAA] and our salaries together with other employees were subjected to statutory deductions to NSSF kitty.
As stipulated in our constitution, I retired at the age of 35. Two years later, I opted to go and collect my pension. I thought that after informing the relevant offices, NSSF will take one or two weeks to process my payments. Here I was deceiving myself as this marked the start of long and agonizing journey.
Though I did not go there every day, at one point I got tired and gave up. This is after one officer told me. Let me be frank with you. You can only get your pension after attaining the statutory retirement age of 55. This is because the law is silent on what happens to a person like you who retired earlier.
I identified this as one of grey areas that policy makers needed to iron out. If one has retired, why deny this person his or her pension?
The Youth Agenda had been duly registered by the government of Kenya. This means the state had approved and endorsed the youth lobby’s constitution.
Given this scenario, my considered view was that the other arms of the government ought to be bound by these provisions. So, I would have expected NSSF to approve my pension.
The other issue is to do with the obstacles laid along the way. This is your money. You have worked for it. So, the process of getting the pension should be easy.
The reports documented previously were shocking and disturbing. They showed that some retirees would die before receiving their pensions. This should now become a thing of the past.
Besides, the protection of the fund is critical. Being a state agency, the mandate of NSSF should be reviewed and fine-tuned. As the custodian, the NSSF’s top decision making organ should act like a bank.
If the government, a commercial bank or a private company want to borrow the pensioners’ funds, the approval should not be made upon submission of security commensurate with money borrowed.
In case of default, the security should be used to recover the money. Cases of corruption had also been documented. To reverse this, people of high integrity should be appointed as managers of this fund.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and a political commentator based in Nairobi
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