Kazungu Kambi kicks Francis Atwoli and Mugo out of NSSF board as saga continues

Cotu Secretary General Francis Atwoli and FKE chair Executive Director Jacqueline Mugo who have served for 15 and 11 years respectively. [PHOTO: WILLIS AWANDU/STANDARD]

Kenya: A vicious battle between Labour Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi and Cotu secretary general Francis Atwoli took a new turn yesterday when the worker’s union boss was removed from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) board of trustees.

Mr Kambi also sent Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) board member Jackline Mugo packing, saying the two had exceeded their tenure. They had been embroiled in a row with the Cabinet Secretary over a development project in Tassia, Nairobi, after they questioned the hurried approval of Sh5 billion towards the same.

Mr Atwoli had led a campaign to have the project suspended. The move opened a round of confrontation between board members and the fund, whose top officials have been accused of taking part in underhand deals costing retirees billions of shillings.

Yesterday, Kambi said he axed them in line with the NSSF Fund Act 2013 that states a board member can only serve for two consecutive terms that add up to six years.

“The Act replaced the old Provident Fund.

Missed meetings

The two have been in the board for too long with Atwoli having served 15 years and Ms Mugo 11 years. I have therefore retired them from the board of trustees for not complying with section 10 (3) of the NSSF Act. I am doing this in compliance with Section 8 (1) of the Act,” said the CS.

The Cabinet Secretary added that: “The other reason Atwoli is being retired from the board is that he has missed almost nine board meetings and the Act says you cannot miss more than three board meetings without the permission from the board chair.”

He said he would write to FKE and Cotu to nominate new members to the board which also comprises representatives from Ministries of Labour and Finance.

The chairman is Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed while other members include Joseph Kinyua, Cornelius Nyang’un, Richard Langat, Fred Rabong’o, Beatrice Kituyi, Cleopa Mailu and Beatrice Kituyi.

But Atwoli swiftly dismissed the claims, terming the sacking illegal. “He has no authority to do this and if I had indeed done something wrong, then he should have referred the matter to the appointing board which is Cotu. He says I have served as board member for 15 years but I have actually served for just nine years,” he said.

The Cotu boss said he has six more years on the board according to the transition clause on the Act was to go by.

 

He explained that the Act said the board in place at the time was to continue as if appointed at the time of transition.

Atwoli claims the move was prompted by his efforts to uncover corruption at the NSSF.

The Cotu boss said, Kambi had quoted the wrong section of the Act to justify the reason for revoking his appointment.

He said: “Section 10 (3) talks about the responsibilities of the board as far as every trustee is concerned and it involves making sure that the provisions of the Constitution are followed and trustees act in the best interest of the fund; all the things that I have been doing.”

The Cotu boss pointed out that NSSF was still marred by corruption and that there was evidence that in the first six months of this year, the NSSF lost Sh1.7 billion.

Atwoli said Kambi’s move would be fought by workers in Kenya who would not agree to make contributions to NSSF without his presence in the board.

Reforms

“Kambi wants to test Cotu and he will know that we are a movement of almost two million workers. We will on Sunday hold a meeting with other secretary generals and we might reveal the names of those involved in the Tassia project scam,” said Atwoli.

Efforts to get a comment from Mugo were futile as her phone went unanswered.

Atwoli said despite recording statements together with Kambi at the Ethic and Anti-Corruption Commission, no action had been taken.

However, the Cabinet Secretary pointed out that the move to retire Mugo and Atwoli was in line with new reforms undertaken by NSSF. “The new reforms will see NSSF contributions being collected by the Kenya Revenue Authority and the piloting is already ongoing. Another key reform involves the managing trustee who will now be appointed by the board of trustees and not the Cabinet Secretary. This measure will help enhance transparency and accountability,” explained Kambi.