Why is Kenya digitising its pension system by 2025?
Kenya will fully digitise its pension payment system by July 2025, in a move the government says will help eliminate widespread fraud and ease delays that have affected retirees for a long time.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi announced the shift while addressing the Senate, saying the manual system currently in place has left pensioners vulnerable to theft and inefficiencies.
The new platform, based on an Enterprise Resource Planning model, will allow retirees to submit claims, check their status, and receive payments without visiting government offices.
Mbadi said pensioners will be able to manage their funds from home, using a self-service portal connected to their bank accounts and mobile phones.
He further revealed that a contractor is already building the digital infrastructure, which will include biometric verification and integration with the National Savings Registry.
These features are expected to prevent payments from going to deceased pensioners and detect suspicious account activity.
The move also follows a series of revelations in Parliament about fraud schemes targeting retirees.
To speed up processing, 18 pension officers have been posted to agencies like the Teachers Service Commission to help verify and submit retirement paperwork.
New rules will also require employers to give workers at least a year’s notice before retirement and file pension claims nine months in advance.
