Apex court to hear appeal on NSSF levies

The Supreme Court is today set to hear a workers’ appeal to stop the government’s decision to further enhance National Social Security Fund (NSSF) contributions.

The monthly contributions took effect on March 9 following a decision by the Court of Appeal that paved the way for the increase in the pension contributions.

Under the NSSF Act, monthly contributions rose by 98 per cent, from Sh200 to Sh2,160. The Act provides for further increases in subsequent years.

Now, the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Martha Koome, is set to hear arguments from parties including the Attorney General on the lawsuit lodged by 6,000 workers.

Judges set today’s hearing date after all parties, among them the NSSF Board of Trustees, the Retirement Benefits Authority and the Federation of Kenya Employees (FKE), the AG and others filed their pleadings in the matter as earlier directed by the court.

Under the umbrella of the County Pensioners Association (CPA), the litigants petitioned the top court in March, asking it to set aside the decision of the appellant court dated February 3. They also wanted the judges to declare mandatory contributions to NSSF unconstitutional.

Increased contributions

Muthomi Thankolu, the lawyer representing the petitions, has asked the Supreme Court to issue orders further barring the NSSF Board of Trustees, the Retirement Benefits Authority and the FKE from increasing workers’ monthly deductions.

In June, the Supreme Court declined to issue a conservatory order stopping the State from effecting the increased contributions.

In their appeal, the petitions challenged the decision on grounds that the Court of Appeal misinterpreted and misapplied various provisions of the Constitution when it allowed a ten-fold increase to Sh2,068 in workers’ monthly contributions.

“We seek the court to suspend the impugned implementation of the Court of Appeal decision as there is serious threat of monopoly and emasculation that the impugned Act (especially sections 18, 19, 20 and 71) poses to the entire pensions industry—specifically, the threat of mass transfers of employees from superior pension schemes to the NSSF,” the County Pensioners Association states in their court papers.

CPA argues that the court should bar the state from further implementing the impugned NSSF Act as it has already occasioned on them. The disputed decision by Justices Hannah Okwengu, Mohamed Warsame and John Mativo has approved the NSSF Act of 2013.