By Education News Reporter
The processing of teachers’ retirement documents has now been centralized after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) directly took over the process to avoid delays of submission of the documents to the National Treasury.
This is revealed in a Circular dated June 24, 2022 (Circular No. 7/2022) signed by the Commission Secretary and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Nancy Macharia and which was addressed to all its County Directors and copied to all its Regional Directors.
The Commission admits that the delays in the processing of the teachers’ exit claims, especially pensionable claims, is majorly caused by late submission of retirement and death gratuity documents which was mostly coupled with submission of incomplete documents by retirees and beneficiaries respectively.
“Processing of the exit claims, especially for pensionable exits, has over the years been characterized by delays in submission of documents to the Pensions Directorate, under the national Treasury for payment. It is from this background that the Commission has put in place strategies to mitigate delays in processing of the exit claims,” admitted Dr. Macharia in the Circular.
In the new guidelines, Dr. Macharia asked the TSC County Directors to coordinate and guide retirees and beneficiaries of deceased teachers in the process of completion and collation of exit documents and thereafter facilitate their submission to the Commission headquarters.
In particular, she instructed the TSC Sub-County Directors to be tracing the next of kins of deceased teachers within their respective sub-counties and offer guidance to the next of kin on the required documentation.
The TSC Sub-county Directors have also been instructed to carry out verification of exit documents, maintain a register of teachers who have exited the service, certify and confirm completeness of documents received and thereafter deliver the complete documents to the County Director in a register.
Upon receiving the complete documents, the County Director will be expected to deliver the complete documents in a register to the respective Human Resource Management (HRM) Unit Heads.
Dr. Macharia has further instructed the TSC County Directors to return any incomplete documents to the Sub-County Director, giving a deadline of 14 days for the completion and resubmission of such documents.
This hasn’t been the case before. Initially, the teachers used to fill the forms and submit them to their respective TSC sub-county and County offices for onward transmission to the Commission headquarters. Thereafter any incomplete forms or those that are not properly filled were returned to TSC County offices from the headquarters.
The county office thereafter contacts the retiree to go back and supply the requisite information which is later resubmitted to the Commission headquarters.
The process used to take so long, forcing teachers to wait for long before their retirement pensions are processed, a situation that gave cartels the chance to swindle the teachers their hard earned money.
At one point Dr. Macharia on May 21, 2021, invited the DCI to conduct detailed investigations into the syndicate. The investigations revealed that fraudsters had opened several fake Facebook accounts in her name, and defrauded unsuspecting teachers millions of shillings on the promise that she would offer them employment opportunities at a fee and also fast truck their retirement pension.
The DCI revealed that fraudsters working with rogue officials from the pensions department targeted teachers due to retire and persuaded them with promises of fast tracking their pension at a fee.
In the end, the teachers lose their entire pension and savings to the marauding phonies.
“A teacher, who had retired in Webuye, lost Ksh 700,000 in the intricate network that involved the cons, a shylock and crooked officials based at treasury’s pension department. The teacher was approached by one of the conmen and was enticed into taking a loan from the Nairobi-based shylock. Unbeknownst to the retiree, the scammers took his personal details and used them to open an account bearing his name at a bank in Webuye,” said the DCI in their investigation report.
The report further revealed that the details were then shared with the crooked officials at the pension department who processed his pension and wired it to the account.
“However, the money was immediately reverted to an account operated from Nairobi, where it was withdrawn. The retiree died shortly thereafter. Detectives are currently investigating 14 such cases, involving retirees who have lost their entire savings,” the report added.
Important Information
The Commission has instructed the County Directors to ensure retiring teachers’ names are indicated on the Payment of Commuted Pension forms (bank forms) exactly as they appear on their national identity cards.
Changes in bank details are to be accompanied by a letter confirming the new account and if applicable, the sub-county HRO will be required to emboss the teacher’s thumbprint on the Payment of Commuted Pension forms (bank form) and witness by signing and indicating the teacher’s name and TSC Number.
In addition, both the Sub-county and County Directors are now required to ensure the names on the bank plate (ATM or Card) appear as they appear on national identity cards. Where applicable, the teacher must obtain a letter from the bank confirming ownership of the account.
Contributors to Widows and Children Pension Schemes (WCPS) should submit the earliest payslip to support WCPS, that is, any payslip for the first ten (10) years of contribution.
“This assignment is very critical and therefore calls for diligence and commitment from both your office and the sub-county levels,” Dr. Macharia told the TSC County Directors in the Circular.
In the case of demise of a teacher, the Widow or the Widower will be required to submit a duly completed and signed Widow or Widower Declaration Form which must appear as in the national ID. The next of kin’s names should also be indicated on the bank form exactly as they appear on their national ID.
In the absence of the spouse of a deceased teacher, the guardian will be required to submit a duly completed and signed Guardianship form, and the names in the forms must be as they appear on the national ID. The guardian’s names should also be indicated on the bank form exactly as they also appear on their national ID.
