National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is sitting on Sh4 billion worth of properties in Nairobi’s CBD that remain unused and vulnerable to encroachment, Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has warned.
In her latest audit, Gathungu faulted the fund for poor stewardship of pension assets, noting that at least five high-value properties in the city centre have been lying idle. The properties were valued at Sh4.022 billion as of June 30, 2025, yet generated no returns during the year under review.
She cited a breach of the NSSF Investment Policy Statement, 2020, which requires assets to be prudently structured and invested at all times. The dormant properties account for about 11.3 percent of the fund’s Sh35.4 billion real estate portfolio. The auditor also flagged concerns that beneficial ownership of some of the properties could not be conclusively verified.
The findings come as NSSF management acknowledges long-standing complications tied to questionable land acquisitions by previous officials. Speaking at the fund’s annual general meeting, chief executive David Koros admitted that some title deeds in the fund’s possession are effectively worthless because the land parcels had already been earmarked for other public uses.
Koros said some holdings sit on forest land, while others are located along Ngong Road and on road reserves on Jogoo Road, creating legal vulnerabilities. He conceded that historical lapses in due diligence have left the fund exposed in court battles.
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In the audit covering the year to June 2025, Gathungu also questioned the revocation of a title deed issued to NSSF after it acquired a Sh115 million plot in Upper Hill from a private developer. The title was cancelled through a 2010 Kenya Gazette notice on grounds that the land had been set aside for public purposes under existing land laws.
The fund is contesting the matter in court. Koros further revealed that NSSF had been misled into purchasing land belonging to Kenya Prisons in Eldoret and is now considering compensating the institution.
He acknowledged that adverse court rulings have compounded the problem, attributing them to past failures in prudent investment decisions, which have left the pension scheme grappling with costly legal and asset ownership disputes.
