NSSF: The National Stealing & Sorrows Fund
What is going on at the NSSF is very bad. A lot of people may not know this, but Nicholas Biwott stole a lot of money from the NSSF when he was in power and by doing that, he essentially left a lot of older people broke.
Now, it appears that these wayward politicians are once again trying to get their hands on this OPP (aka other people’s money_.
According to a confusing and poorly edited article in BD Africa:
However, in a proposed change by the labor minister:
First, I don’t understand what burden it is that this article is talking about since the government will simply be tasked with paying out what others have contributed. The government is not being asked to come up with the money out of thin air.
However, looking at both scenarios, this whole thing is just bad. To begin with, if you are an employer, it would suck to give money to an fund that you know the corrupt politicians will want to raid. On the other side of it though, it would be crazy for such a corrupt government to force civil servants to give up 5% percent of their pay to an institution that has a history of corruption.
Would you want to be forced to give up 5% percent of your pay to the fund of the sorrowful?
And in a broader context I suppose this issue also brings up the question of the viability of pensions, especially as the world confronts this global economic crisis. A lot of people have lost a whole lot of money, which they were counting on for their golden years.
You’d be amazed at how many people don’t pay attention to where their money is going or to who is handling it. Then add in a very corrupt country like Kenya and God knows what’s going to happen to your money.
What do you do if you are a civil servant? You almost have to steal to survive.
And the same thing with the politicians. They have a 5 year window in which to hook themselves up.
I honestly don’t see any other alternative to this kind of under-handed scheming, but feel free to provide one if you like.
I’ve had this continuous argument with my friends about what it would take to make it in Kenya without magendo and I’d really like to hear your answers on this issue.
Its unfortunate that the narc government is the best government that Kenya has had yet. All developments hapenning now are as result of what was planned 2003-2007. I dunno much about the Kenyatta government so I cant comment coz I was not born in that era. This coalition is a mess because corrupt official are taking advantage of the confusion to just steal. Being sacked is very hard because both sides of the coalition want to maintain their troops intact before the next battle royal.
The thing is NSSF was well run when narc took power in 2003 and efficiency was introduced. Pensioners used to get their money of time and NSSF books even had excess money thanks to their MD who was unceremoniously retired coz she wouldn’t budge on demands of politicians. The latest noise in NSSF is just politicians trying to interfere with it to get access to the billions of shillings to use in campaign money let no one fool you. Imagine that money was not touched in the 2007 campaign but now there is cl amour to put politically correct people at its helm to take advantage of that. Even the effort of moving money to another civil servants pension scheme is just another scheme to get control of the money to use for campaigns.
The sad thing is that most people dont know its all about the money. MOney and Power. Power to Control the Wealth and Wealth to maintain and access power. Imagine I was shocked to know that one vice chancellor took money from the largest UNI in kenya from the UNI staff sacco to fund the ODM campaign in the last election to the point that members could not access money for quite a period. Things that happen in this country are just shocking. And what I have written here is from credible sources but I cannot dare put their names here to protect them.
Noni,
I totally agree with your concept of money power and respect.
KE,
For me to be able to answer your question, you have to ask yourself. If there was ever a Kenya without Magendo ?
You see, the Idea that grand corruption can end in Kenya is not even worth conceiving with the existing Status of operation.
I believe its possible to reduce the levels of corruption but am willing to bet it will never end as long as respect for Individual freedoms exists whenever someone has committed grand corruption. People of different tribes always get jealous when they see another with prosperity and they don’t have it. This is what fuels corruption.
I think I am the one who proposed here that people engaged in such kind of corruption need to face Capital punishment. I also proposed people who are caught involved should be named in public and banned from holding any other government office.
Of course the people who get away with it need to be listed too so that they don’t hold any government positions or their companies being given any government contract.
You see the Kenyan system as is right now encourages, money laundering, corruption, mega scandals, impunity, tax evasion.
All these are killing the country. Kenyans think that the economy will do better by doing these things but I can assure you they’re dead wrong as they can ever be. Without Capital punishment Grand corruption will go on in Kenya until Infinity.
The question for many young people today (and this is not just in kenya, it’s everywhere as people lose their pensions and other benefits) — it’s whether young workers today need to be more honest about the growing reality of these disappearing benefits.
And actually, maybe in kenya people are more honest about it because they already know that the system is so corrupt that everyone just ends up looking out for themselves. So, if you’re a civil servant, you use your time in office to take bribes and hook yourself up because you know that your pension will not be there.
This is why it’s so hard to change the system. I mean, ministers and MP’s cannot tell civil servants to stop taking bribes when they are the one’s who are eating people’s pensions.
I agree with you there KE…..
Well, from what you just said it means that their is no hope, unless the people wake up and fight for their rights.
For the last point. You see the thing it’s not that everyone in Kenya knows how to look out for themselves. Many Kenyans live in despair and disillusionment waiting for some supernatural power or event to come and change the way things are.
The truth is Kenyans just love living in crises mode, putting out fires whenever they pop up.
You see corruption is like a tick it sucks out blood gradually sucking out the life of the host. Many ticks make it more worse. Just hand picking the ticks will help but not as much as taking the animal to a cow dip or something in that line.
May be the future probably has something in store for Kenyans. I don’t what that would be though….
I suggest we get the current crop of politicians in Kenya on a ship… and send the ship to somali waters… one way ticket… the somalis can keep them… I would not contribute 1 red cent towards the ransom…
CT,
I think Kenyans are compassionate enough to raise the ransom. Lets see….
Any one got change for a nickel ?