President William Ruto has defended the growth of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), saying the assets have more than doubled since he assumed office as the Head of State in September 2022.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Speaking during a church service in Embu County on Sunday, July 5, Ruto said the funds have grown from Ksh312 billion to over Ksh 680 billion in just three years.

The president attributed the growth to reforms undertaken by his administration, and the able leadership at the fund has also led to tremendous reforms.

"When I became the president,NSSF had Ksh312 billion. Today it has Ksh680 billion in just three years," Ruto stated.

📌 What You Need to Know

The revelations come amid controversies surrounding the contribution by employed Kenyans after a recent court ruled that the enhanced NSSF deductions under the NSSF Act, 2013, were unlawful, asking employers to begin paying the initial Ksh200 that was paid before the new law.

The NSSF Act 2013 was declared unconstitutional by the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC), which meant deductions should technically have reverted to the old Ksh 200 rate.

However, NSSF went to the Court of Appeal to challenge the ELRC ruling , a petition that the appellate court rejected the fund's call to suspend the earlier ruling.

As the legal battle over the deductions, employers have stated that they will continue deductions according to the Act, though legal experts like the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) argue that contributions should be reverted back to Ksh200.

Under the updated NSSF Act, Tier 1 contributions, applicable to monthly earnings up to Ksh 9,000, require both employees and employers to contribute 6 per cent of their monthly income. This translates to Ksh540 from each party, bringing the total Tier 1 contribution per employee to Ksh1,080 when you add employers' contributions too.

For employees earning above Ksh9,000, Tier 2 contributions are applied. The maximum contribution on salaries up to Ksh108,000 will require both the employee and employer to pay Ksh5,940 each, resulting in a total of Ksh11,880.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke