Kenya still paying British pensioners millions who left the country six decades ago
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Parliament calls for probe over millions Kenya spends paying British pensioners who left the country six decades ago
Parliament calls for probe over millions Kenya spends paying British pensioners who left the country six decades ago.
The Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has been given six months by members of Parliament to look into the millions of shillings that Kenya continues to pay to British retirees who left the country 60 years ago.
The National Treasury budgeted an additional Sh42 million to pay the retirees in the 2023/2024 fiscal year after spending Sh150 million to pay these pensions in the 2022–2023 fiscal year.
The annual pension expense for retirees who were born between 1930 and 1940 has stayed around Sh150 million, and auditors are now wondering if Treasury may be paying phantom beneficiaries given that the identities of the beneficiaries are not fully known.
The Widows and Orphans Act, the Asian Widows and Orphans Act, and the Asian Of’cers Family Pensions Act, which allow for contributory plans for Europeans and Asians through Crown Agents, are the laws that establish the payouts.
However, the Public Debt and Privatization Committee of the National Assembly has recently requested that Ms. Gathungu carry out an exclusive audit on the millions of shillings that Kenya has been paying these colonial pensions every year since 1963.
The call for the special probe follows questions raised by Ms. Gathungu and Controller of Budget Dr. Margaret Nyakang’o over the authenticity of the payments.
“By December 31, 2023, the office of the Auditor-General should undertake a special audit on pensions relating to pensioners paid through the Crown Agents Bank in the UK and submit a report to the National Assembly within the stipulated timeframe,” said Dr. Makali Mulu, who is the vice-chairperson of the committee, in the report tabled in the National Assembly.
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A performance audit report released in April 2019 on the administration of the public service pensions scheme noted that pension paid to Asian and European pensioners is paid through the Crown Agents Bank, a UK-based organization.
The foreigners retired when Kenya attained independence in 1963 leading to Africans taking most of the roles in public service.
However, no returns were submitted to authenticate the existence of the pensioners raising questions over how many of the pensioners are still alive, if any, and whether they actually receive the pension.
The audit also identified lack of procedures to identify deceased pensioners and dependents, and that the pensions department at the National Treasury continued to pay into the accounts of deceased pensioners and dependents for a period ranging from one month to seven years.
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