The ‘new’ path entails introduction of an educational curriculum from certificate to diploma and degree level, as well as pro- old people policies that subsidise costs of treatment, skills training and travel in public transport. Currently, it is only Kenyatta University that offers courses in on gerontology (old age study) at diploma level, an emerging career expected to guide all engagements between society and old people from a knowledge point of  view. This will see senior citizens lead productive lives thereby contributing to Kenya’s development.

While senior citizens enjoy subsidized transport and healthcare services in advanced countries, Kenya lags behind on this front. The Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) has activated the mandatory training for pension trustees where incoming trustees must attend training and be certified by the College of Insurance. Under the Trustees Development Programme Kenya (TDPK), a joint project by RBA, College of Insurance and Association of Retirement Benefits Schemes, the trustees will undertake a mandatory five-day professional programme that is targeted at improving operations of Kenya’s 1,258 registered pension schemes. The new guidelines require that incoming trustees undertake the five-day TPDK course within six months.

The course covers trustees and governance, funding and investing, contracts and sourcing, administration and oversight, retirement benefit scheme fundamentals as well as laws relating to retirement benefit schemes. “As one of the key players in this  sector, we welcome this move as it will further strengthen the execution of our mandate of receiving, investing and managing members’ contributions to provide secured retirement,” said Chief Executive Officer, Mr. David Koross. Mr. Koross further added that LAPFUND’s trustees have over the year’s upskilled their knowledge in corporate governance through professional trainings. Last November, Sh8.74 billion was released under the Inua Jamii cash transfer programme benefitting 1,092,195 senior citizens. Each received Sh8,000 being four months stipend payments. It is for this cash transfer programme for the social welfare of senior citizens and other disadvantaged groups under Kenya’s family policy that Kenya won the International Federation for Family Development (IFFD) 2020 award.

But as pension savings continue to rise, a major setback occurred last year when parliamentarians rejected Treasury’s proposal to bar people quitting jobs from accessing their contributions to pension schemes. RBA said this early access to the funds depletes the meagre pension savings in each individual’s kitty. The retirement benefit scheme industry has since re-ignited public debate on the same and is consulting Kenyans with a view to enhancing savings during one’s active life. It hopes to have the regulation blocking access to pension savings by anyone under 55 years reinstated. Currently, employees are allowed to withdraw their entire savings but leave behind their employers’ contributions. Members of Parliament felt it was right to let individual savers decide what they want to do with their money.

The industry is also mulling the establishment of a programme where workers will be trained on how to lead meaningful lives after retirement. This will include training on funds management, investments and income generation as well as how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This arises from recent studies that show most retirees lead docile lives that exposes them to opportunistic ailments largely associated with sedentary lifestyles. While new regulations were formulated allowing retirement benefit schemes to invest in emerging asset classes as venture capital, real estate investment trusts and as private equity, many appear to have shunned owing to lack of information. 

While only a paltry 0.008 percent of the 10 percent limited was invested in these asset classes of the total pensions kitty of about Sh1.2  trillion, the future looks bright. This is because all1,204 schemes will have their trustees  attend  training sessions funded by the International Finance Corporation and facilitated by non-state financial inclusion lobby Financial Sector Deepening-Africa. 2019 saw the government introduce a new public service retirement benefit scheme where each of the 70,000 senior cadre in government will contribute 7.5 percent of their monthly salary towards their pension savings with the government chipping in a 15 percent. This is expected to ease the government-funded pensions’ burden which stood at Sh25 billion in 2018, rising to Sh89 billion in 2019 and could rise to Sh153 billion by 2022. This is to be activated in May 2020.

Last year also witnessed renewed interest in pensions with new products riding on mobile money platforms launched to cater for the informal sector, which LAPFUND says is aimed at giving a majority of Kenyans better lives in old age. “In 2020, we intend to contribute to the Economic Pillar of Vision 2030 by developing online platforms through an integrated mobile money transfer platform. This will enable our members to send money  and  access their accounts through USSD and Android applications,” said Mr. Koross.