Treasury Cabinet Secretary, John Mbadi, and the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) have come under fire for the delayed payment of retirement benefits to former employees of several state agencies, years after they left their posts.
The Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning in the National Assembly questioned the RBA and the National Treasury about their failure to release the payments.
The Committee Chair, Kitui Rural MP David Mboni, also expressed concern that the RBA has failed to take action against the chief executives of many state agencies that have failed to fulfil their obligations to pay retirement benefits to their retired staff.
“We share the same pain as legislators of people whose pension payouts are stuck. What this Committee needs to know is, if these former employees contributed towards their pension and the agencies made their part of the contribution, where is the money?” Mboni asked.
Karachuonyo MP Andrew Adipo expressed concern to the committee, stating that the Authority was taking the issue of delayed retirement benefits casually.
“Chairman, this is a serious matter. Someone retires and they have made a contribution during the entire period of their service, only for them to exit from service and to be told there is no money. This is not a matter to be taken casually,” he stated.
Butula MP Joseph Oyula added that there were some issues with the management of payouts in the country. He said that beneficiaries should be given a breakdown of what to expect before they retire.
Chonga informed the committee about the delayed payment of pensions to retired staff under the National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation (NWCPC) Staff Superannuation Scheme.
In response to Chonga’s statement, the Authority’s CEO, Charles Machira, informed the Committee that the NWCPC did not remit pension contributions for their employees when they fell due. This resulted in the Actuarial Deficit continuing to increase and breaching the minimum statutory funding level of 100 per cent.
“Hon. Chairman, the Water Agency bodies that were formed after water sector reforms neglected their obligations in terms of remitting pension contributions to the National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation Superannuation Scheme for employees they took over,” Machira stated.
MP Mboni concluded the meeting by providing the way forward to the matter, directing Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi to reappear before the Committee on October 23, 2025.
The officials urged to provide a comprehensive report on the amount deducted from the employees and the employers and justification for why the payout has taken too long to be remitted.
