• The over 200 retirees accused the TelPosta pension scheme of withholding their dues thus subjecting them to untold suffering.
• Pamela Okowa, who represents the pensioners in Nyanza region, said over 600 members have died since 2006 while following up on their payments.
Image: File
Angry TelPosta pensioners on Monday walked out of a meeting convened by the Retirement Benefits Authority to protest over delayed remittance from their scheme.
The meeting brought together retirees from various pension schemes and was attended by authority CEO Nzomo Mutuku. It was meant to inform the retirees about the new policies RBA is introducing.
The over 200 retirees who were retrenched in 1994, 2006,2007, 2008 and 2011 accused the TelPosta pension scheme of withholding their dues thus subjecting them to untold suffering.
Pamela Okowa, who represents the pensioners in the Nyanza region, said over 600 members have died since 2006 while following up on their payments.
“We are unable to meet our financial obligations such as food, clothing and health. Some of us were underpaid when we were retrenched. Others have received only 30 per cent of their dues, while some have never anything at all,” Okowa said.
They accused the scheme's management of using the courts to frustrate them with endless injunctions.
They said RBA successfully arbitrated the issue in 2007 and confirmed that the retirees were underpaid and proposed a review.
Okowa said the scheme received Sh7.2 billion from the World Bank in 2006 to clear their dues.
“The money was received by the National Treasury and remitted to the pension scheme whose officials are now using it to frustrate us by hiring lawyers to block payment," Okowa said.
She appealed to the Court of Appeal where the matter is pending to fast track it so that the over 15,000 pensioners can get justice .
Morris Obimbo, who was amongst those who were retrenched in 1994, said he was unable to access medical care even after serving the country for many years .
“It is unfortunate that after RBA and the courts approved a restructure of the payment, our pension scheme moved to court to overturn the ruling by the lower court," he said.
Paul Otera who was removed from service in 2006 accused lawyers of collusion with the scheme to defraud them of their hard earned benefits and appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene.
“Among us, there are those who receive only Sh2,000 as pension every month after working for the government for 16 straight years,” Otera said.
RBA chief executive said the matter was in the Court of Appeal and that as a regulator, they abide by the rule of law.
“The issue was arbitrated by us and concluded. It was a valid case but one of the parties appealed our verdict and the appeal is pending," he said.
He however appealed to the parties to consider an out of court settlement arguing that the long drawn court battles only works against the already suffering retirees.
Mutuku said the new proposals being floated by the authority include making the regulations flexible to tap into the informal sector.
The RBA is also focusing on leveraging on technology to allow workers in the informal sector to make contributions using mobile platforms as they save for their retirement.
He said four pension schemes have been given the green light to recruit workers in the informal sector as the authority continues to create awareness on the need to save for retirement.
"We have amended the regulations to allow use of pension funds to purchase houses for members. Those in the informal sector are also allowed to join and contribute as when and if they have the money unlike the salaried who do so monthly,” he said.