The Court of Appeal has declared that Kenyans will from this month contribute at least Sh2,000 to the National Social Security Fund(NSSF) from their salaries up from the normal Sh200.
In a ruling, members will now increase their contribution to six percent of an employee's earnings, with the employer matching the same.
Appeal Court judges Hannah Okwengu, Mohamed Warsame, and John Mativo ruled that the NSSF Act of 2013, which sought to increase monthly contributions from Sh200 to Sh2,000, is legal.
In September 2022, the Labour and Employment Relations Court had declared the bid unconstitutional, null and void, saying the NSSF Act, 2013, was in breach of the Constitution as there was no public participation ahead of its enactment.
The ruling comes after President William Ruto publicly declared that the amount should be increased, to enable Kenyan employees to save up a reasonable amount.
"Majority of people on the roll of NSSF are paying Sh200, it is ridiculous. We just got a ruling from the court a week ago that it is wrong for us to increase it from Sh200, I don't know really know what we are doing. Do we live in the same country?" Ruto said then.
Ruto said that he had agreed with NSSF to talk to the court and reconsider the ruling.
“We cannot continue to borrow from the savings of others. We need to build our country with our savings. Let us borrow from our savings so that we can give interest to our lenders,” Ruto said.
In November 2022, the Federation of Kenya Employers said the proposed increase in the NSSF contributions should be spread over five years.
FKE said this will enable employers and employees to adjust to accommodate the new rates, further adding that it should be effected based on “statutory minimums.”
The issue had been in court since 2014 as stakeholders in social security matters raised issues on how the NSSF Act 2013 will be implemented.
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