TSC seeks more time to pay retirees Sh42bn pension arrears

 

President Mwai Kibaki attends a leaders meeting in Othaya town on February 9. Kibaki will receive a lump sum of Sh31.2 million for the two year terms he served. File 

By WANJIRU MACHARIA

Posted  Thursday, February 21  2013 at  20:35

In Summary

• The retired teachers are demanding salary arrears and pension which have been pending for the last 15 years.

The government wants more time to process data for more than 52,000 retired teachers before paying them billions of shillings in pension and salary arrears.

Deputy Teachers Service Commission (TSC) legal director Allan Sitima Thursday told the High Court in Nakuru that the agency had only compiled particulars for 10,000 ex-teachers.

Through The Retired Teachers (1997) Group, they are demanding arrears amounting to Sh42 billion accrued from 1997 to June 2007.

Mr Sitima told Justice Anyara Emukule that TSC was not deliberately delaying the payment after several court orders directing release of the cash.

They are demanding salary arrears and pension which have been pending for the last 15 years.

The group sued TSC in 2006, claiming unpaid salary increment and accrued pension from July 1997.

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The teachers won the case before Nakuru High Court Judge Mr Justice David Maraga when the court ordered that all retired teachers covered by the agreement dated October 11, 1997 between the TSC and Knut were entitled to their retirement benefits based on the entire salary increment as per the agreement.

However, during Thursday’s hearing, Dominic Kimatta, the retirees’ lawyer, said there was a scheme to delay the payment of Sh11 billion which had already been allocated by Parliament to settle part of the demands.

“My clients are not happy with the way the Attorney-General, Controller of Budget and TSC are handling the matter,” said the lawyer.

Mr Justice Emukule directed TSC to ensure the particulars of all the retired teachers had been compiled before the next hearing date which is on June 11.

The judge noted that the government was acting in bad faith by failing to comply with court orders issued by the High Court and the Court of Appeal in 2010.

He said that if the TSC failed to comply with his directive by June 11, he would disqualify himself from hearing the matter.

On December 6, last year, Justice Emukule had directed the teachers’ employer to process and release Sh3 billion within 45 days allocated in the financial year 2011-2012.

On that day, December 6, 2012, Mr Sitima told the court that the delay in processing the pension was occasioned by administrative hiccups.