TSC Pension: Govt Pays Ksh.16 Billion to 22,022 Retired Teachers After Two Decades
After a prolonged struggle lasting more than two decades, the government has finally disbursed a sum of 16.08 billion shillings to retired teachers, fulfilling their long-awaited pension payments.
The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Njuguna Ndung’u, confirmed that this amount is intended for revised claims filed by 22,022 teachers who retired between 1998 and 2003.
The Ministry received a total of 23,487 revised claims from the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), initially granted enhanced pension emoluments by the High Court in Nakuru on October 28, 2008.
Despite subsequent appeals by the government, it ultimately lost the legal battle, leaving no choice but to pay the retired teachers.
The Treasury is currently processing the remaining 1,465 claims for payment.
Background and Legal Battles:
The affected retirees were teachers who did not receive the enhanced pay benefits from the 1997 agreement.
Due to financial crises at the time, these teachers only benefited from one of the five phases outlined in the agreement before retiring.
Mr. Philip Too, a retired teacher, filed a petition with the Senate on behalf of teachers who retired between 1997 and 2007, highlighting the outstanding claims that had remained unpaid for nearly 20 years.
Recently, the blame for the delayed payments was shifted to the Treasury by the Teachers Service Commission, as they claimed to have completed and submitted all necessary documents for the retired teachers’ payments.
In 1997, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) entered into a pay agreement with the government through Legal Notice 534 of 1997.
The salary award was scheduled to be paid in five phases over five years, with the final phase due in 2001. However, only the first phase was implemented in 1997.
In 2003, both parties renegotiated and signed a new agreement, aiming to have the government settle the arrears over a 10-year period, beginning in 2003.
Subsequently, the number of phases was reduced to six, then five, through an agreement reached in 2007, with implementation planned over six years.
This led to a lengthy court battle that exhausted all judicial avenues.
Eligibility and Urgency of Payments
The Treasury Cabinet Secretary clarified that the teachers entitled to benefit under the court order are those who retired without receiving their respective salary awards as per the phased agreement.
Teachers who retired after July 2003 had already earned their respective phases, and their pension benefits were correctly paid.
The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary-General, Akelo Misori, has urged Members of Parliament to exert pressure on the Treasury to expedite the pension payments.
Collins Oyuu, the Secretary-General of Knut, expressed disappointment at the retirees’ prolonged financial struggles, despite the National Assembly allocating funds to the Treasury to address the teachers’ plight.
Notably, during the previous financial year’s budget, the government had allocated 3.3 billion shillings for the affected teachers’ benefits.
TSC Pension: Govt Pays Ksh.16 Billion to 22,022 Retired Teachers After Two Decades
