Over 600 retirees from Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) are set to receive their dues after a decision by the Retirement Benefits Appeal Tribunal.

The tribunal chairman Charles Ongoto has ordered the trustees of KPA Retirement Benefits Scheme to calculate dues owed to the over 600 retired port workers who are members of the scheme and pay them within 30days.

The tribunal railed on the trustees not to frustrate the former workers who have been in court for the last 17 years in pursuit of their benefit.

The workers expressed satisfaction with the decision of the tribunal for showing interest to bring the matter to a closure. They say some of the members are now deceased before their claim would be disbursed to their accounts.

“Most of our members died because they could not afford medical bills, unfortunately these are people  who served  in KPA, trustees  want  to benefit  from their savings,” said a retiree.

Some of the members say trustees made an uninformed decision to venture into unprofitable investments that does not benefit the scheme.

 “We have white elephant projects that do not benefit members  of the scheme,” said Kago.

The former dock employees had sued trustees of the Kenya Port Authority and Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA).

Term limit

The Retirement Benefits Appeals Tribunal is established under Section 47 of the Retirement Benefits Act. Under this provision, the Tribunal shall consist of the Chairman and four other members appointed by the Minister for Finance and who hold office for a period of three (3) years upon such terms and conditions as the Minister may prescribe.

The provisions further provide that Chairman of the Tribunal shall be an Advocate of the High Court of not less than seven years standing and the decisions in the Tribunal shall, in the event of a difference of opinion, be decided by the votes of the majority of members.

The current composition and terms of the membership in the Tribunal is set out below

The Tribunal is expressly vested with jurisdiction to hear appeals by any person aggrieved by a decision of the Authority or the Chief Executive Officer within thirty days of receipt of the decision.

In the hearing of appeals, the Tribunal has the powers of a subordinate court of the first class to summon witnesses, to take evidence upon oath or affirmation and to call the production of books and other documents. The Tribunal has power to award costs of any proceedings before it by issuing a certificate of costs and to direct that such costs be paid in accordance with the prescribed scales.