Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefit Scheme (KRSRBS) has
paid out Sh200 million in pension arrears, bringing to a close a long wait by
more than 8,500 pensioners. The pension fund, which boasts over Sh30 billion in
assets, has been dogged with controversies, delaying payments to its ageing
former workers by over a decade. Simon Nyakundi, the scheme’s CEO, said the
payout was made possible by an increase in its rental income from Sh26 million
to Sh50 million, with the firm unable to dispose of many of its assets tied to
pending court cases. “The arrears settled this week have been outstanding since
January 2005 and I would like to thank the pensioners for their patience,” he
said. “We are not there yet as our pension payroll is Sh73 million while the
rental collection is 50 million.” The initial total pension arrears and lump
sum stood at Sh774 million, of which Sh574 million had been paid earlier,
leaving the balance of Sh200 million unpaid.
Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefit Scheme says it has
been unable to sell off billions of its properties to pay its pensioners owing
to several of its assets being locked up in court cases. “We formulated a
strategic plan two years ago, which included an aggressive campaign to collect
all amounts owed to the scheme and to generate sufficient cash flow from the
sale of a limited number of non-strategic properties in order to guarantee
uninterrupted payment of monthly pension,” explained Nyakundi.
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