NSSF Bill to be tabled in House next month

By Rushdie Oudia

Kenya: A Bill that proposes raising contributions to the State-operated pension scheme is set to be tabled in the National Assembly next month.

The draft National Social Security Fund Bill 2012, which was approved by Cabinet late last year, could not be published because the House adjourned.

National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Managing Trustee Tom Odongo said the Bill is with the Attorney General and will be put in the House next month.

Mr Odongo said the Bill was aimed at widening coverage and giving NSSF legal framework for it to cover formal and informal sectors.

“It is aimed at providing meaningful social security for all,” said Odongo.

The controversial draft Bill sought to convert NSSF from a national provident fund into a social security (pension) or (social insurance) scheme.

Pending process

Odongo said if successfully passed through the pending parliamentary process, the Bill will facilitate the statutory repealing and replacement of existing National Social Security Fund Act (Cap 258 of the Laws of Kenya).

NSSF research justifying the need for the fund’s transformation, Odongo explained, had established that only 3.1 per cent of the elderly in Kenya above the age of 55 had reported receipt of any pension.

Such grim statistics, he pointed out, confirm the growing need for NSSF to transform into a statutory national pension scheme to stem growing incidences of poverty amongst the elderly.