Kenya Railways Scheme clears Sh200m arrears

Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefit Scheme (KRSRBS) has paid out Sh200 million in pension arrears, bringing to a close a long wait by more than 8,500 pensioners.

The pension fund, which boasts over Sh30 billion in assets, has been dogged with controversies, delaying payments to its ageing former workers by over a decade.

Simon Nyakundi, the scheme’s CEO, said the payout was made possible by an increase in its rental income from Sh26 million to Sh50 million, with the firm unable to dispose of many of its assets tied to pending court cases.

“The arrears settled this week have been outstanding since January 2005 and I would like to thank the pensioners for their patience,” he said. “We are not there yet as our pension payroll is Sh73 million while the rental collection is 50 million.”

The initial total pension arrears and lump sum stood at Sh774 million, of which Sh574 million had been paid earlier, leaving the balance of Sh200 million unpaid.

Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefit Scheme says it has been unable to sell off billions of its properties to pay its pensioners owing to several of its assets being locked up in court cases.

“We formulated a strategic plan two years ago, which included an aggressive campaign to collect all amounts owed to the scheme and to generate sufficient cash flow from the sale of a limited number of non-strategic properties in order to guarantee uninterrupted payment of monthly pension,” explained Nyakundi.