The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has called for an amendment to the Pensions Act to shift the handling of pensions from the National Treasury to the employer.
The union urged the National Assembly's Education Committee to amend the law to help thousands of retired teachers who are suffering while going after their pensions.
Appearing before the MPs on Tuesday, Knut Secretary-General Collins Oyuu said it was irrational that teachers would serve under the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) their entire working lives only to have the Treasury process their pensions upon retirement.
“It does not make sense for a teacher to work for 35 years and then later be told that his pension will be handled by the Treasury. We want the pension law to be amended so that the function is transferred to the TSC,” Mr Oyuu told the MPs.
He told of the agony teachers go through while waiting for their pensions, saying, some even die before they get it because of the bureaucratic red tape at the National Treasury.
Proposed law
The TSC, the unionist insisted to the MPs, “understands the plight of teachers.”
Mr Oyuu said the union will present its proposals to the committee and urged the lawmakers to support them in their quest to help teachers get their pensions after retirement.
Mr Oyuu further urged the legislators to follow up on a bill sponsored by Mwingi South MP David Musila, which was passed by parliament in 2003, calling for the immediate payment of pensions to civil servants.
The proposed law stipulated that all retirees should remain on the job until their pensions are paid in full.
My Oyuu told MPs that teachers need to be kept on the payroll until their pensions are paid because they end up suffering when they leave the service without a source of income.
“What happened to this Musila Bill? Teachers actually need to be on the payroll until they are paid their pensions,” Mr Oyuu told MPs.
Committee Chairman Julius Melly said the lawmakers would have another meeting with officials from the TSC to address the issues raised.
"We will meet with the TSC so that we can also hear their side of the story.”
“All the information you have given us will be revealed to the TSC so that we can also hear them," Mr Melly said.
Last year, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu announced that it would only take a maximum of six months for retired teachers to receive their pensions, a situation that has not changed.
The CS, speaking while appearing before the Senate during question time, told senators that his ministry had directed the TSC to ensure that all details of teachers are with the Pensions Department at the National Treasury upon retirement to enable faster processing of the pension.
The TSC has always absolved itself of blame for the delay in processing teachers' pensions, saying, it usually completes all processes on time and that the delay in payment is on the side of the Treasury.
As of last year, 23,487 teachers who retired between 1998 and 2003 had not been paid their pensions two decades after they left the service.
According to the Human Resource Policies and Procedures Manual for the Public Service 2015, applications for normal retirement should be submitted at least nine months before a civil servant's retirement date.
This is to allow for verification of claims before an officer officially leaves the service.
