Revelations that the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is holding Sh6 billion of contributors’ cash in a suspense account are disturbing.
A dictionary description of this type of account states that it is an account used temporarily to carry doubtful receipts, disbursements or discrepancies pending their analysis and permanent classification.
Generally, a suspense account is used because the proper account could not be determined at the time that the transaction was recorded. The monies are usually moved from the suspense account to the proper account when proper account is determined.
It would have been lighter if the amount involved was small, unfortunately the cash that is lying fallow in that nondescript account is massive by any measure of the imagination.
Part of the reason offered to explain this anomaly is that some employers have been contributing to the fund, but not submitting returns thus delaying the process of crediting members’ accounts and frustrating elimination of amounts in the suspense account.
We don’t know what NSSF has been doing with this money, but we feel it is urgent and healthy to significantly reduce this amount.
It certainly doesn’t make economic sense to hold such huge sums of money ostensibly because the administrators and contributors don’t know what to do with it.
While we appreciate the forthrightness of the Fund and its administrators in coming out and stating the actual figures, employers should also take the flak for the role they have played in growing this fund to such astronomical levels.
Play possum
It is good enough to contribute, but filing returns in good time and stating exactly who the money being contributed belongs to will go a long way in reducing the figures in the suspense account and restoring normalcy.
It is incumbent upon employers to shoulder their rightful size of the burden. It is time for both parties to open up about the issues and engage in serious dialogue about how to manage the contributions. Such savings often prove to be the only nest egg for most retirees. It would be criminal to play possum with contributors’ monies.
