‘We are dying poor’: Nairobi Water retirees demand over sh4 billion pension dues

The representative of Nairobi city water and sewerage pensioners, Peter Njihia, Water Services Workers Union National General Secretary Matilda Jebet Kimeto and Joseph Kanyore during a press briefing in Nairobi on November 25, 2025/FILE

Retirees of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company are accusing their former employer of condemning them to poverty, sickness and death through years of failure to remit statutory pension deductions.

Dozens of former workers, some frail and visibly ill, gathered alongside union officials in Nairobi, delivering an emotional plea for intervention after what they described as decades of neglect and deception.

They say more than Sh4 billion in pension arrears owed to multiple schemes has left hundreds of households in destitution while the company and county authorities play politics.

“We are dying. Our people are dying without their pension, we worked with our own hands, we gave our lives to public service, but we are now dying poor,” said Peter Njihia, a representative of Nairobi Water pensioners.

According to the union, Nairobi Water owes Sh2.6 billion to Laptrust, Sh900 million to Lapfund and Sh500 million to the County Pension Fund.

Water Services Workers Union, National General Secretary Matilda Kimeto said that much of the debt represents money deducted from salaries but never remitted.

“This is literally employees’ salaries; they deducted the money and never sent it to the pension houses. People retired with peanuts. Now they are dying,” said Kimeto

Kimeto warned that with more staff retiring every month, the crisis is deepening, and current employees face the same fate unless immediate action is taken.

The union accuses Nairobi Water’s management and board of mischief, claiming they stopped a Sh3.5 million daily standing order in 2022 that had been agreed upon in 2016 to pay both current contributions and clear arrears.

With this arrangement halted, interest and penalties have been accumulating at a rate that she says now exceeds what a bank loan would have cost.

The union says a bank loan to clear the debt had been fully processed and approved, awaiting only the county assembly’s endorsement.

“We waited seven, eight years for that bank loan to be completed, it would have cleared the debt by 2023. But the governor came up with another arrangement and left ours hanging. There is no goodwill,” said Kimeto.

In an effort to compel the National Treasury and Nairobi County to act, the retirees and the Water Services Workers Union announced a three-day picket from December 2 to 4, accusing Nairobi Water management of ignoring repeated attempts to resolve the matter.

“If management claims the county government is the problem, we will go to the governor, we have nowhere else to go. We are old. Some of us came here sick. Some could not come because they are in hospital,” added Kimeto.

The union officials warned that picking pensioners over contractors and suppliers is “cruel and unacceptable,” and blamed political interference for decisions that have worsened the crisis.

They are calling on President William Ruto, the Treasury, the Public Service Commission, Parliament and City Hall to intervene immediately, reinstate the daily standing order and approve the bank loan to stop further deaths.

“This is not charity. It is our right under the Constitution. Enough is enough. We have gone in circles for years. We are not shelving this again,” Kimeto said.

Retirees recounted travelling from as far as Kisii, Homa Bay, Taita Taveta and Nyeri in a final attempt to retrieve savings they say Nairobi Water has illegally withheld for close to 20 years.