MPs Request New Pension Model for Retirees.
Members of Parliament in Kenya have requested that Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u implement a new pension model for retirees. This comes after complaints from retirees about the long and complicated process of applying for and receiving their funds.
Kimani Kuria, Chairman of the Finance and National Planning Committee at the National Assembly, stated that Ndung’u had been tasked with integrating civil servants’ payment systems with pension payroll.
This new integrated system will ensure that the Pensions Department in the Treasury and Planning Ministry can hasten the processing of pensions without delays due to manual filings.
Kuria acknowledged that retiring public servants often had to wait up to three to four years to receive their pension, despite some having served for up to 30 years. In addition to the long wait time, they were often asked to provide various documents, such as their first letter of employment and first payslip, which was a tedious and expensive process.
The deployment of Treasury officials at various departments was meant to eliminate cartels that had been swindling retiring officers of their hard-earned pension money under the guise that they were in a position to help retired public servants to earn their pension faster.
Principal Pensions Officers Douglas Asanyo and Anna Kitole confirmed that retiring public servants were often duped by fraudsters in various government departments due to ignorance, not necessarily corrupt officials within the Ministry.
They added that the department had deployed officers at the Teachers Service Commission and Vigilance House to help prepare the pensions of retiring teachers and police officers, and they hoped that this would be replicated in all ministries at headquarters.
Kuria stated that if the plan for the new model was put into action by the Treasury, retiring public servants would receive their pension within 30 days after exiting from service. The aim is to save them time and agony associated with getting the requisite documents that are asked for.
The new integrated system will ensure that the pensions are paid quickly through an automated system that eliminates fraud.
MPs Request New Pension Model for Retirees.
