NSSF starts search for chief to replace Tom Odongo amid row

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has started the process of replacing former chief executive Tom Odongo who was sacked on July 22.

The fund in a newspaper notice invited applications for the position that is currently held in an acting capacity by Hope Mwashumbe.

NSSF will be hiring its seventh chief executive in five years, underlining the office as one of the most volatile in corporate Kenya.

“The board of trustees of NSSF wishes to fill the position of managing trustee,” the fund said in a statement.

Mr Odongo had moved to court to block NSSF from replacing him and it remains unclear whether the fund won the right to proceed with his replacement.

READ: Sacked NSSF boss moves to block hiring of new chief

NSSF has published higher qualification standards for its next CEO in line with the draft NSSF 2013 Bill that is set to be discussed in Parliament amid opposition from employers and workers’ representatives.

Prospective candidates must now have a Masters degree in a commercial, management, or equivalent fields from a recognised university.

They also require at least 10 years of work experience at managerial level in pension, banking and investment sectors in an organisation similar to the size of the Sh130 billion NSSF.

The higher qualifications come as the government moves to enshrine the minimum qualifications of NSSF managing trustees in law for the first time.

Currently, qualifications of the office holder are left at the discretion of the fund’s board.

READ: State raises the bar for next NSSF boss, sets term cap

The proposed Bill seeks to limit the top job holder to a maximum of two three-year terms, ending the board’s discretion in determining tenures of the executives.

The job has been entangled in politics with its occupants being axed after falling out with the minister heading the Labour docket. Mr Odongo was sacked by Labour Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi who appointed Ms Mwashumbe in an acting capacity.

The minister, in an affidavit filed at Industrial Court, accused Mr Odongo of five counts with three bordering on an interview Mr Odongo had with the Business Daily where he was blamed for sharing the fund’s investment plan before getting Cabinet approval.

READ: I sacked former NSSF boss for talking to media, says Kazungu

Mr Odongo moved to court seeking reinstatement on grounds that Mr Kambi’s decision was arbitrary and did not involve the board of trustees to whom he was answerable as chief executive.

But the board of trustees earlier told the court that it had no problem with Mr Kambi’s move to fire Mr Odongo even as the court dismissed the bid by the Labour minister to have the case struck out.

Mr Odongo had held the position for barely eight months following his confirmation last November after holding it in an acting capacity for 10 months.

He took over from Alex Kazongo, who was fired in February last year after two years in charge. Among other former occupants of the hot seat are Rachel Lumbasyo, James Akoya and Albert Odero.

The hiring of a new CEO at the fund comes amid opposition to the draft Bill, with the government being accused of locking out Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) and the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) from the NSSF board.

The two organisations are demanding an amendment to the Bill which has stripped them of their four board seats in NSSF.

The Bill has given the government powers to appoint the CEO and the entire board of the fund at a time when NSSF plans to raise monthly contributions of NSSF members by up to 50 times from the current flat rate of Sh200.

FKE and Cotu said they would withdraw their support for the planned increments in NSSF contributions if they are locked out of the fund’s management.

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