NSSF records Sh29.5b drop in returns
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) recorded a decline in its investment income for the past year.
The chief executive officer of NSSF David Koross has said that the fund suffered a loss of 29.5 billion shillings due to the decline in the stock market. Many of the companies that NSSF invested in saw their share prices fall.
“Many companies we had invested in, such as Safaricom, were down and the stock was selling at around Sh14,” Koross said.
The CEO noted that government treasury bills remained NSSF’s primary investment during the period. However, compared to before, financial stocks fell in the 2022/2023 financial year, with government bonds affected by rising interest rates.
However, the Auditor General’s report raised concerns about NSSF’s financial statements for the year ended June 30 last year.
The report noted differences in the opening balance of some financial statement items, such as employee loans and other income. Inexplicable differences in these balances have raised questions about the accuracy of the financial data.
The report also highlighted unsupported salaries and benefits totaling 27.6 million shillings.
NSSF’s financial statements revealed that administrative expenses amounted to 2.63 billion shillings, which included directors’ fees of 29.2 million shillings. After the audit, it was found that the board had received a seat allowance of 50,000 shillings as well as the monthly remuneration of the directors of the same amount as that proposed in 2011 by the former Minister of Labour.
However, one important element was missing – there was no official approval from key regulatory bodies including the Public Service Commission, the Public Service Commission, the National Treasury and the Salaries and Wages Commission.
“In this environment, the regularity of the Board’s use of Sh29,241,145 could not be confirmed,” Auditor General Nancy Gathungu said.
Despite these issues, Koross highlighted some of the positive aspects of the fund’s performance, pointing out that they were able to collect 25 billion shillings, more than the target of 19 billion shillings. Out of these funds, 6.7 billion shillings had already been paid to members.
