The Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme (KRSRBS) has issued a raft of new directives that its members must follow for proper remittance of their pension.
In a notice carried in local dailies on Thursday, November 10, the pension scheme directed all its members to present themselves for a fresh head count.
The exercise, which kicked off countrywide on Wednesday, November 9, is slated to last for 17 days until Friday, November 25.
"Notice is hereby given that the head count for the pensioners of Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefit Scheme will be conducted commencing from November 9, 2022 to November 25, 2022," read the notice in part.
The scheme further directed all members to submit head count forms in person accompanied by an original identity card and its copy as well as a coloured passport photo.
"Non-submission of the head count forms by February 15, 2023 will lead to suspension of pension in the month of February 2023," cautioned the notice signed by the scheme's Chief Executive Officer Isaac Sila.
A total of 27 centers were listed in the notice including Nairobi, Kisii, Machakos, Nakuru, Bondo, Mombasa, Siaya, Wundanyi, Luanda, Busia, Voi, Kakamega and Bundom.
Others are Tala, Kibwezi, Kisumu, Webuye, Meru, Emali, Wote, Homabay, Kitale, Karatina, Kitui, Oyugis, Eldoret and Murang'a.
Over the years, beneficiaries of the scheme have been up in arms over non-payment of their pension with many arguing that they are elderly and rely on the remittances for survival.
As of July 2012, some 217 retired members of the scheme were yet to receive a Ksh115 million lumpsum payment after claiming that they were not paid their full amounts in two decades.
In April 2021, another set of beneficiaries had staged a protest accusing the scheme's management of delaying their remittances - a move they claimed led to the death of 70 of their members.
The team, which was representing 7,800 former employees, argued that some of their colleagues had died due to lack of food and basic needs.
They noted that the members received between Ksh2,500 and Ksh40,000 every month from the pension scheme.
