Business Daily (Nairobi)
12 November 2009
editorial
The coming into force of the law that requires employers to make social security contributions for their workers regardless of their number represents a major policy decision that deserves the support of all Kenyans.
This is because success of this plan could help the government to tackle the looming crisis of old age poverty -- one of the most difficult social problems facing policy makers in developing economies such as ours.
The urgency with which this matter must be tackled arises from recent revelations that millions of Kenyans are facing destitution in old age mainly because the country lacks any form of safety net to cushion them from the now frequent social and economic upheavals.
A more critical aspect of the crisis is that the African social fabric -- a family system that revolves around children taking care of their ageing parents and is hinged on the village life -- has been falling apart with speed.
In the last couple of decades, the crisis has only deepened as thousands of elderly people are forced into the burden of parenting occasioned by the death of many young people in the wake of HIV/Aids.
These being the realities of our time, it must only make sense for everyone to act now by contributing money to some social security scheme to secure the future.
That will require everyone who uses the services of others to do the right thing and help secure their future.
But as it often is with the labour laws, one cannot rule out the possibility of employers taking the short term view of it and concluding that it amounts to a rise in the cost of doing business.
That possibility in turn ushers in the critical element of enforcement.
While the threshold for social security contributions stood at five employees, it was easy for the National Social Security Fund to monitor compliance and act.
One wonders whether the public pensions service has what it will take to smoke out the millions of employers in the informal sector and in households who are going to pay Sh200 to secure the future of their house help or gardener as an additional cost worth evading.
Will this law be enforced?
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