Uhuru orders gazettement of Cotu representative on the NSSF board

President Kenyatta has directed Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui to immediately gazette a representative of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) on the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Board of Trustees.The President also asked MPs to pass a law for the creation of two boards at the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to allow for workers to be represented and for their money to be safeguarded against misappropriation.“Cabinet Secretary, I order you today, that by the end of this holiday, on Wednesday, I want to see a gazette notice stating that a Cotu representative has been appointed.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta delivers a speech during the memorial service for former Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on April 29, 2022. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP) (Photo by TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images)

That is not a request, it is an order,” President Kenyatta said.The president gave the orders as he addressed Kenyans at the Nyayo National Stadium who had gathered to mark Labuor Day celebrations.Read: Cotu threatens to lead workers out of NSSFThe declarations followed complaints by Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli that Mr Chelugui had refused to gazette the nominee.This, said Mr Atwoli, forced the union to seek legal redress, which ended up halting the Board’s operations. Mr Atwoli lamented that this had affected the functioning of the fund, as the delay meant the board was not fully constituted to enable it make decisions.

“I have firm instructions from workers and the support of employees to ensure that we are all fully represented at the board before any operations can continue and let the cabinet secretary stop frustrating workers by refusing to appoint their representative to the NSSF Board of trustees,” said Mr Atwoli.Mr Atwoli’s request to have the NHIF be constituted of two corporate boards, for easy monitoring of the fund, received a nod from the President, who said that a bill should be passed in parliament, in order to receive his approval.Read: Cotu, NSSF agree on withdrawing court cases

One board, suggested Mr Atwoli, will look into workers aligned to their monthly contributions, while the other will take care of new members under Universal Health Coverage (UHC), with funds being sourced from the national government.This, he said, followed concerns by workers who have made contributions over the years that they would lose their monthly contribution under the new NHIF act. In order to safeguard the workers’ money, Mr Atwoli said the new Act that provides for adequate budgetary allocation for UHC.The government’s failure to provide adequate allocation, said Mr Atwoli, would threaten the safety of worker’s money, and Cotu would have to go to court.“Soon after the implementation of the new rates together with the Sh6 billion from the government’s budgetary allocation for civil servants, NHIF was unable to account for this huge sum, in addition to misappropriating Sh500 million meant for the police force,” said Mr Atwoli.“If we are to guarantee accountability and transparency for the two different sets of funds coming to NHIF without getting mixed up for any mismanagement, we must in the future think of two different boards under the health ministry to deter theft,” he added.