The government, through the National Treasury, has announced a plan to crackdown on fraudulent elderly Kenyans.
Starting February 11, 2019, the state will embark on a head count exercise of all pensioners in the country in an effort to tame the ballooning pension bill.
According to data from Treasury, the pension bill had increased from Kshs 30 billion in the 2013/2014 financial year to the current Kshs 86 billion.
The exercise is expected to take three months and will target all pensioners including retired MPs, judicial officers and civil servants among others.
“The pensions department under the National Treasury and Planning will conduct a headcount for all pensioners and dependents countrywide to update their personal data with the objective of cleansing the pension payroll,” read a notice from the ministry.
In the 2018/2019 financial year, Treasury had projected that the beneficiaries of the pension bill would increase hence shooting it up.
“The total number of retirees is projected to rise from 19,300 in the current financial year to 19,800 in the 2018/2019 financial year,” read Treasury’s Budget Policy.
In 2017, Members of the National Assembly raised the pension payable to those who lost elections even after serving for only one time.
The former legislators are entitled to a Kshs18.8 million in pension each.
Considering that a total of 196 MPs lost in the last election, their pension bill rose by 700 per cent from Kshs 262 million in the 2017/2018 financial year to Kshs 1.7 billion.
