Parliamentary Committee On Implementation Meets Treasury CS, Pensioners Over Delayed Payments
Treasury CS Prof Njuguna Ndung’u and his team before the committee yesterday
By PPT
Worth Noting:
- “In as much as our pensions have been coming in good time now, the amount is still insufficient to meet our needs and we are only asking for equity, justice, and fair treatment bearing in mind the changing economic dynamics of our country,” said the chair, who is also a Retired Director of Children’s Services.
- “Can Treasury explain how a former Permanent Secretary who retired in 1995 earns less than 20,000 shillings, while a former PS who retired in 2005 earns over Kshs 200,000 shillings? Where is the fairness?” posed Boniface Makau, a Retired Former PS in the Office of the President.
The National Assembly’s Committee on Implementation, in a session chaired by Prof. Guyo Jaldesa, (Moyale), yesterday met with the Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Prof Njuguna Ndung’u , and members the Kenyan Association of Retired Officers (KARO), to discuss the implementation status of a Parliamentary report on settlement of retired government officers’ pension issues.
The committee sought explanations from the Cabinet Secretary on the implementation status of a report by the Departmental Committee on Labour and Social Welfare in the 12th Parliament addressing concerns raised in a Petition to the National Assembly by KARO, as well as related recommendations by the SRC to Treasury.
“This is still work in progress, and we have limitations to drawing conclusions while addressing the issues of concern to the retirees, although I can assure that the issues will be fully resolved in due time.” said CS Prof Ndung’u.
In an attempt to explain to the legislator why there has been a seven years’ delay in implementing proposals by SRC, the Cabinet Secretary refenced ongoing audits that will guide the settlement process, and failure by his predecessors to allocate funds for the same.
“A comprehensive valuation exercise of all retired officers will be carried out by the government, and once we have reliable results, we will undertake to implement the committee’s and the SRC’s recommendations.” Stated Prof Ndung’u.
However, the pensioners made their case to the Committee, expressing disappointment with the speed with which their case has been executed, citing their deteriorating health and other financial needs that have remained unaddressed.
“By the time SRC made their recommendations, an actuarial study had already been done by Alexander Forbes in 2015, thus the claim by Treasury that this needs to be done again, makes no sense to us.” Said Ahmed Hussein Ahmed, the chairperson of KARO.
“In as much as our pensions have been coming in good time now, the amount is still insufficient to meet our needs and we are only asking for equity, justice, and fair treatment bearing in mind the changing economic dynamics of our country,” said the chair, who is also a Retired Director of Children’s Services.
“Can Treasury explain how a former Permanent Secretary who retired in 1995 earns less than 20,000 shillings, while a former PS who retired in 2005 earns over Kshs 200,000 shillings? Where is the fairness?” posed Boniface Makau, a Retired Former PS in the Office of the President.
Among the Committee’s recommendations were for treasury to among others: Review the pensions Act and align it with the provisions of the constitution, fast track the process on the development of the National Retirement Benefits Policy to provide for the provision and management of retirement benefits in the country and Implement the recommendations by SRC on pension increase Policy, in an equitable manner so as to ensure it does not perpetuate further disparities.
Others are initiating the transformation of the current Pensions Department into a Semi-Autonomous Government Agency, to be domiciled in the State Department for social protection.
The SRC, in two of its advisories to the Government, recommended as follows: A discretionary one-off pension increases for retirees for the period 1991-2005 to compensate for inflation and Amendment of the Pension (Increase) Act, CAP.190 of the Laws of Kenya, to provide for triennial review of pension-in-payment over and above the existing biennial increase effected in June 2005.
These recommendations were contained in SRC policy documents launched by the President of the Republic of Kenya in June 2015 and submitted to the National Treasury for implementation but remain unimplemented 7 years down the line.
The Committee gave the Treasury Cabinet Secretary time to consider their concerns, and report back with a concrete plan of action.
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