By Purity Ngigi – Sundays

The National Social Security Fund is a national/public pension fund meant to provide basic social security for its members upon retirement. Every employer must register with NSSF, register its employees to the pension fund, and make contributions on behalf of the employees. 

The NSSF contribution is a statutory pension contribution introduced by the NSSF Act of 2013 (“Act”), which set to increase the contributions ten times more than the contributions of Ksh 200, which is levied before the Act was assented to. 

The Act provides that the pension contribution for each employee is at the rate of twelve per cent (12%) of the employee’s salary, made up of two equal portions of six per cent (6%) from the employee and six per cent (6%) from the employer, subject to an upper limit of Kenya Shillings two thousand, one hundred and sixty (Ksh 2,160) for employees earning above Kenya Shillings eighteen thousand (Ksh 18,000). 

However, these contributions have not yet been implemented owing to a court petition filed against its implementation, challenging its constitutionality. After a lengthy judicial process, the Court of Appeal recently ruled that the promulgation of the Act was constitutional and that the new rates should now be implemented. As such, employers and employees will see a rise in their pension contributions from as little as Ksh 200 to Ksh 1080 for each employee. Employers must deduct and remit the contributions to NSSF by the 9th day of each month.

Employers are required to keep a proper and up-to-date record of the salaries and contributions for each employee at all times and to produce the register or record on demand by NSSF. The employer should keep the record for a period not exceeding ten (10) years. Any employer who fails to register and contribute with NSSF commits an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding Kenya Shillings fifty thousand (Ksh. 50,000).