Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro has raised serious concerns over the government’s decision to use workers’ pension contributions held by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to finance road construction under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements.
Speaking during a public forum, Nyoro, who is the former Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee in Parliament, questioned the legality and ethics of redirecting NSSF funds to infrastructure projects, warning that such a move puts workers’ savings at risk.
He blamed Ruto’s government, claiming that all NSSF money had now been directed to building roads after the private sector shunned off government’s offer.
“We can play around with anything else but we cannot afford to play around with the money being contributed by the workers of Kenya. We are forcing NSSF to build roads in Kenya. The work of NSSF is to make sure that the money contributed by Kenya’s workers is optimally invested. The only question NSSF should have is When money is invested, how much profit will it give to workers on their invested money,” said Nyoro.
He claimed the government is now leaning on NSSF to bankroll roads due to excessive borrowing and a lack of private sector interest in such ventures.
“The only question NSSF should be asking is, how much profit will a particular investment generate for workers? Instead, we are now forcing it to take part in road construction, which is not its mandate. This is risky and potentially illegal,” he added.
Nyoro also suggested that the private sector has already assessed the viability of some of the road projects and opted out due to low expected returns. As a result, he says, the government is now turning to NSSF as a last resort.
“Let the private sector invest where it sees value. If they’ve backed out, that should be a red flag, not an excuse to dip into workers’ savings,” he warned.
Nyoro’s remarks come amid growing scrutiny of how public funds and pension contributions are being managed in light of increasing government debt and limited fiscal space.
This comes just months after government announced that the construction of the Rironi, Mau Narok double carrier road is set to begin soon. The government announced that the government was not going to borrow any money for the project but would use a public-private partnership to construct it.
