TSC says retirement payments not ready, warns of fraudsters

By J.J. Kioria.

The Teachers Service Commission, TSC, is warning retired teachers to be weary of fraudsters who have been asking money from them claiming they can help them process their retirement package.

The commission says it is yet to pay the retired teachers 42 Billion shillings as directed by the Supreme Court last year, and as such the affected former tutors should not fall prey to such gimmicks.

A land mark ruling by the Supreme Court last year awarding teachers 42 Billion shillings.

A deal was struck by teachers in 1997 when retired President Daniel arap Moi formed a committee to look into the reasons for frequent teachers strike.

The government would increase teachers’ salary by between 150 and 200 per cent with the increment set to be implemented in five phases, starting from November 1, 1997 and backdated to July 1, of the same year.

The other phases were not implemented until after the Kanu government was removed from power by the NARC government in 2002.

The teachers who retired or were retrenched between 1997 and 2002 did not benefit from the increment prompting their suit at the court.

And after Judge David Maraga had granted the orders that they be paid in 2008, TSC moved to the Appellate court to challenge the decision.

The Supreme Court later issued the final verdict on the matter by ordering that TSC pays retired teachers them 42 Billion shillings which included accruing interests from 2015.

TSC is now cautioning the retired teachers or their dependents to be weary of fraudsters who have been allegedly asking for official documents from them under the guise of processing their payments.

The alleged fraudsters are said to be asking for a processing fee from the teachers in what could turn out be a scam in the making.

Though the commission could not come clear on when it will pay the affected teachers the 42 billion shillings, the Professor Lydia Nzomo led commission insists it will contact the teachers on their personal details once the payments are ready.

TSC is further assuring the teachers or their dependents that it has in its custody all the requisite documents needed to process the amount, and  that it has no intentions of deploying other agencies or use third parties to get the details to process their payments.