New team to probe pension billions owed by counties

The Treasury CS John Mbadi (2nd right) and National Assembly Finance and National Planning Committee Chairman Kuria Kimani (2nd left) at Bunge Tower, Nairobi, on November 14, 2024. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has formed a multi-agency task force to find ways of ensuring timely remittance of pensions by county governments to pension schemes.

This as the government moves to ensure the clearance of pension liabilities currently running into billions of shillings. The move signals hope for thousands of workers whose pensions are not being remitted to pension schemes, setting them up for an uncertain future due to counties’ failure to remit pensions.  

The task force, which will be chaired by the Director-General of the Budget, Fiscal and Economic Affairs at the National Treasury Albert Mwenda, has been tasked with establishing the actual county pension liabilities and developing strategies for implementing the recommendations of the Senate Select Committee on County Public Investments and Special Funds, which aim to unlock the unremitted pension.