A total of Sh.1.5 Billion to be Bagged by Retired Teachers

A total of 32,000 teachers who retired between July 1, 1998 and 2003 are set to benefit from a total of Sh.1.5 billion as payment for their pension arrears, some who will receive up to Sh.1 million.

The government needs to give out Sh.1.5 billion as settled by the court that is to be used for the said payments from the actual Sh. 16.4 billion. These are retired teachers who the government had not paid pension that that they were entitled to. The government happened to have lost all court cases where it was battling to block payment of the pension arrears.

The Nakuru High Court in August ordered the Director of Pensions to release Sh1.5 billion, which is part of the Sh42.3 billion sought by retired teachers. The presiding judge at the time, Lady Justice Janet Mulwa, warned that action would be taken if the Pensions Department failed to honor the agreement.

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It is not only teachers who tend to face such challenges on matters of pension payment from the government, but it is a problem faced by most civil servants after retirement. The government takes too long to process their dues, which in the long run leads to most of them ending up to be very poor.

It will now be a relief as the Pensions Department announced that will bring to an end the frustrations facing civil servants, who have to endure a painful wait before receiving their dues. The contributory civil servants pension scheme will start next year, as Government moves to share the ballooning pension bill with civil servants.

Under the new scheme, Government employees will from next July pay 7.5 percent of their salary to the pension fund. The State will contribute a similar amount, bringing their total pension contributions per month to 15 percent of their total salary, comparable to the practice in the private sector and some moneyed parastatals.

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