NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 12 – Kenyans will start paying more for the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) from next month after an upward review of the rates.
According to a notice by the fund, employers will now have to deduct between Sh420 and Sh1,740 from their workers’ pay-slips.
The notice further indicated that lower earnings limit or the amount that is considered the lowest pensionable salary has been raised to Sh7,000 up from the current Sh6,000.
This category of employees will now contribute Sh420 from the current Sh360.
The Upper Earnings Limit has also been hiked to Sh29,000 from the current Sh18,000, meaning that most workers’ will contribute Sh1,740 up from Sh1,080.
As has always been the case, each contribution will be matched by the employer.
The rates will remain in place until the next review in January 2025.
The new deduction plan, that began last year, will gradually increase rates over a five-year period.
This shift began in 2013 when the NSSF Act came into effect, requiring six percent of workers’ salaries be deducted each month.
It was expected that the new contribution rates would take effect in 2014, but that was stalled in a nearly decade-long court battle that challenged the new deductions.
The Court of Appeal however gave the green light for the new deductions in a judgment delivered in September 2022.
This then paved way for NSSF to start the new deduction scheme last year.
