Toriro resigns as NSSA board chairperson?

National Social Security Authority (NSSA) chairman, Dr Percy Toriro, is reportedly considering stepping down, according to people familiar with the latest development in the authority.

“He has been out of the country for the five or so months and he probably feels that his prolonged absence could be affecting the smooth functioning of the board,” said one person who declined to be named because the matter is still private.

Dr Toriro, a renowned urban planning expert could not be reached for a comment yesterday.

Dr Toriro was appointed to the hot seat at the authority in May 2021.

Currently, Merjury Chinyemba is the acting chairperson as Dr Toriro is out of the country on NSSA business.

Another person, however, revealed the “decision to step down could be motivated by endless boardroom squabbles at NSSA,” a situation making one of the richest pension funds in the country ungovernable.

“He may want to save his professional face a because of many problems at NSSA,” the person said. “

“There are so many divisions within the board and probably he is feeling the heat. Sometimes it is better to jump off the ship than to wait for the situation to explode.”

The NSSA) board is under the spotlight for alleged “dereliction” of duty as it emerged acting general manager, Dr Charles Shava, who is facing a $12 million fraud charge is reporting for work in violation of his bail conditions.

Already, there are concerns about the board’s inaction given the gravity of the matter and its implications of the organisation’s reputation and good corporate governance tenets.

In January this year, NSSA overturned the rotational appointment of the acting general manager after receiving advice that the timing “may not be right” given that the audit is still ongoing.

NSSA had appointed Ms Agnes Masiiwa to succeeding Dr Shava.

But a day later, NSSA issued a new public notice reversing the appointment of Masiiwa.-ebusinesweekly