State agency to pay former KPTC workers Sh1b benefits

A decision by the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) will see the Government pay Sh1 billion to former employees of the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) in pension benefits.

The order made yesterday and signed by RBA acting Chief Executive Nzomo Mutuku, will see the State pay the money to 500 employees of KPTC, who were absorbed in the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) when the former was split 19 years ago.

The Government could end up paying even more to former employees of two other parastatals – the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) and Telkom Kenya.

Telkom Kenya and CA are the other State entities that resulted from the split in 1999.

The money will be paid by the Government since KPTC was a State entity by the time it was split. The former employees had launched a complaint with RBA in April 2014, accusing trustees of the PCK pension scheme of underpaying them.

Calculations

They said PCK calculated their pension benefits according to new regulations that were set by its scheme, instead of the original regulations that guided the KPTC scheme, which promised them bigger emoluments.

“In light of the foregoing, the authority finds that the trustees erred in their decision to calculate and pay members benefits in light of the provisions of the PCK scheme only and not consider those of KPTC,” said RBA.

“Consequently, the authority hereby directs the trustees to recalculate the members’ benefits and make the necessary payments in 30 days.”

If CAK and Telkom pensioners file the same complaint with RBA, the same precedent will be used to pay them, meaning the state could part with more money.

RBA also ordered the Kenya National Examinations Board to pay its former employees Sh50 million in benefits owed to them.

The employees had similarly taken up their complaint with RBA, accusing the KNEC scheme of making wrong computation while awarding them their benefits.