Retired teachers are in mourning following the death of Nakuru-based lawyer Dominic Kimatta who represented them in a compensation claim of Ksh42.3 Billion against the Teachers Service Commission.
Confirming the news, his wife Hildah stated that the advocate was diagnosed with pneumonia and was admitted at War Memorial in Nakuru before he was transferred to Aga Khan hospital where he passed away on Sunday, October 25.
Chairman of the Retired Teachers' Caucus Joseph Mwenje stated that his death was a blow to the teachers' cause.
"He was a great lawyer and we will greatly miss his counsel," Mwenje eulogised Kimatta.
Prior to his passing, Kimatta represented 50,000 teachers in a court case they have sought their retirement benefits for over a decade.
The retirees won a case in October 2008, where then High Court Judge David Maraga ordered TSC to process pensions based on salaries awarded in a 1997 agreement.
In a ruling in October 2019, the court had ruled that the retired teachers were not entitled to any salary areas.
On their part, TSC and the Director of pensions disputed the Ksh42 billion claim noting that the amount owed to the retirees was Ksh16.7 billion.
In a rebuttal, however, Kimatta argued that the ruling contradicted a 1997 agreement as well as the Pensions Act, which based the pension payable on the salary of the individual.
He further stated that there was no inflation on the amount, adding that the amount had been accruing interest since the judgment was issued.
He further argued that the ruling did not give a time limit for the institutions to pay the money to the retirees.
Kimatta expressed his concerns that some of his clients might die before they access the money.
“Most of them are really aged, while others are on their way to meet their Maker. Others are already dead,” Kimatta stated in an application in January 2020.
