Retired teachers and civil employees will now be relieved because the NSSF will pay pensions in one day, and the requirement for the first payslip has been waived.
During the 7th Annual General Meeting at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on April 25, 2025, the NSSF Board of Trustees Chairman David Kariuki Njeru, CEO/Managing Trustee David Koross, and other Trustees will celebrate 60 years of innovation, inclusion, and sustainable development. [Courtesy]
By prioritizing technology, a flexible workforce, and data cleanup, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has announced its intention to pay claims within 24 hours.
This has already been done, according to David Koros, the CEO and Managing Trustee of the NSSF, who gave the example of a period in March when the fund paid seven claims in 24 hours at its Hill Branch.
The average wait time for claims in June 2023 was 82 days.
According to the CEO, this has been cut to fewer than two weeks. At the seventh annual general meeting of the NSSF, Mr. Koros stated, “We are currently averaging nine days.”
According to the fund’s strategic plan, he stated that the goal is for claimants to be paid their dues in one day by the fiscal year 2027/2028.
“We have been able to pay benefits in one day. We arrived at work on a Monday last month (March), for example, collected any claims that had come to our Hill Branch, and had paid seven of them by 3 p.m. “That demonstrates that benefits may be paid in a single day,” he stated.
“We are setting ourselves a goal of 24 hours. The money is deposited into your account by Tuesday at 4 p.m. after you file your claim on Monday. That is our promise to you.
Over 200,000 retirees have received payments from NSSF in the past two years, according to the organization. The amount paid out in benefits increased by 46% to Sh9.71 billion in the year ending in June 2024.
First paycheck
Retirees have complained about how long it takes to get their payments from the fund, which is a problem that has also attracted the attention of the Commission for Administrative Justice (CAJ), which issued a statement on the matter in February.
In its statement from February 13, 2025, the CAJ stated that retirees are being required to provide documents like a first payslip, which is sometimes impossible because it may be from more than twenty years ago.
Following an unplanned trip to the Bima House of the NSSF, Charles Dulo, the chair of the commission, questioned, “How are they expected to have such documents?”
Mr. Koros, mindful of these difficulties, said that they are using new technology, using their newly hired 400 young workforce, and digitizing their records as ways to guarantee timely payment of benefits.
This will entail implementing automation and utilizing cutting-edge technologies. “We will introduce a new system that will allow us to handle benefits effectively,” he stated.
He added that NSSF will also begin data cleansing since inconsistencies in remittances from companies are occasionally discovered during the benefits processing procedure.
“NSSF has been known to have gaps in contributions. “We will go after those employers who haven’t made those contributions, so that we have the data and information related to you at the conclusion, when you are retiring, and we are ready to pay when you come calling,” he stated.
For this reason, the fund has increased the size of its compliance staff from 80 to 300 individuals, who will now also be responsible for bringing in new employers, according to Mr. Koros.
By the end of the following fiscal year, NSSF wants to have 120,000 employers, up from the 80,000 at present.
In addition to the 500,000 members that have already been recruited, this will also bring in a million more.
Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua and Principal Secretary State Department for Labour and Skills Development Shadrack Mwadime also supported the demand that claims be paid within 24 hours.
“We must treat our clients really well. I will collaborate with you to reduce the payment term, and we will make a major announcement,” CS Mutua stated.
