KENYA : Lecturers and university staff risk retiring in poverty as employers withhold their pension contributions, now totalling Ksh25.9 billion.
Records from the Universities Fund reveal that these unremitted contributions are the largest pending bills for universities, overshadowing PAYE arrears and supplier debts.
During a conference in Naivasha, university leaders and policymakers discussed alternative funding models to address the issue.
As of 2025, total university debts have reached Ksh72.2 billion, including over Ksh20 billion in unpaid PAYE, Ksh3.3 billion in Sacco contributions, Ksh3.1 billion in unpaid supplier debts, and Ksh5.1 billion for stalled projects.
This situation threatens the financial security of university employees as they approach retirement, with the pension crisis emerging as a major social security concern.
The CEO of Universities Fund, Geoffrey Monari, highlighted the dire consequences, noting that lecturers retiring in the coming years may find themselves without any financial safety net.
The government provides retirement benefits to public officers as part of their terms of service, with a view to providing them with social security in old age as stipulated in Article 43(1)(e) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.
Provision of retirement benefits to public officers is intended to ensure a smooth transition from active service with employment income, to retirement with a certain level of replacement income.
This is so that the standard of living for public officers does not change drastically in old age. The retirement benefits are in form of pension and other non-pension benefits.
Retirement benefits in the public service are governed through various laws and regulations, government circulars and directives.
