The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is set to appoint a new Chief Executive, pending a decision from Minister for Labour, John Munyes. According to a statement from Fund Chairman, Adan Mohammed, the Board of Trustees has selected Tom Odongo, David Bonyi and Kennedy Odondi from a list of seven shortlisted candidates. This is the first time in history that the Board has had a role in selecting a candidate since all previous appointees were chosen by the President.
The Fund has had no official head since former Managing Trustee (also known as CEO), Alex Kazongo’s term expired early this year.
Kazongo, who took office in May 2009, was sent on leave in February 2012 months prior to the expiration of his contract in May of this year.
Tom Odongo has been the Acting Managing Trustee and now the Board is seeking an official replacement.
So who exactly are the people who might be responsible for managing your retirement scheme?
Tom Odongo
Odongo has been the NSSF Acting Managing Trustee for close to 9 months now. He has also been the Fund’s General Manager for Investments and was previously the Head of Finance at the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB). According to NSSF, he has 16 years worth of experience in the field of Finance, Investments and Project Management. As for his educational background, Odongo holds an MBA degree from the University of Nairobi. He is also a Member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) and the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM).
David Bonyi
Bonyi is currently the Company Secretary for the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA). He holds a Masters in Law (LL.M) and has also conducted research on pension schemes in the recent past. One of his more prevalent articles includes a piece titled: Problems Facing Kenya’s Pension System: A Case for Reforms of Laws Relating to Pensions. He previously served as a consultant for the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB).
Kennedy Odondi
Odondi is a Career Investments Professional with a background in Investment Management. He is currently serving as a Principal Officer at the Tunis-based Africa Development Bank (AfDB). He previously served as an Investment Analyst at AIG. He has a Masters in Finance from the University of Cambridge.
The new Managing Trustee will be responsible for overseeing the overall operations of the NSSF. In essence, they will be in charge of a Fund that is over KES 100 Billion strong.