Withholding of Pension Benefits- Unconstitutional

A letter from the Public Service Commission Chairman Anthony Muchiri has been circulating on Social Media Forums. The letter indicates that Public Officers exiting service are eligible for payment of their pension irrespective of how they exit service.

According to the PSC’s 2020/21 annual report at least 130 employees were dismissed from the service; of the 130 officers who were dismissed 104 of the dismissed employees were from Prisons. 

A few years ago, in the Employment and Labour Relations court before Justice Matthews Nderi, we represented a former Prison warder where we advanced the position that denying an employee his benefits due to an unfair termination was unfair and discriminatory. The court agreed with us and granted the employee his pension. You can read more on the case here. 

Looking at this precedent and a declaration of the unconstitutionality of withholding and/or taking away pension, I wonder how this will shape up Gratuity and service pay within the Private sector and negotiations in Collective Bargaining Agreements.

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