Nakuru court summons IG Boinnet for failing to arrest pensions boss

A Nakuru High Court has on Friday summoned the Inspector-General of police Joseph Boinnet over his failure to arrest the Director of Pensions.

Justice Janet Mulwa directed Mr Boinnet to appear in court on October 6 to explain why he has failed to arrest Director of Pensions Shem Nyakutu as directed by the court on September 16.

Mr Nyakutu is required in court to explain why the 52,000 retired teachers have not been paid Sh1.5 billion, part of the Sh42.3 billion pension arrears, as directed by the court early last month.

He is also required to explain the steps the Pensions department is taking to clear the remaining balance the retirees have pursued for more than a decade.

Justice Mulwa on Friday said Mr Nyakutu is at liberty to present himself in court to explain the payment stalemate.

The judge noted that Mr Nyakutu had failed to appear in court twice.

Previously, the court had summoned Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia and Mr Nyakutu over the payment impasse.

Mr Nyakutu appeared once in the court on August 15 after a warrant of arrest was issued against him on July 26.

He confirmed then that his office had received the Sh1.5 billion on June 25 and promised to release the amount to the retired teachers’ accounts in three weeks.

“We have the money in our account and it is just a matter of a few procedures before we release it,” said Mr Nyakutu.

He said the pensions staff were working hard and were ready to receive the retired teachers’ claim forms.

Mr Nyakutu further indicated that his office was working with other stakeholders, including the Controller of Budget, the TSC, and the Attorney-General, as well as the retired teachers, to ensure the cash is efficiently released.

YET TO RECEIVE

However, the retirees are yet to receive the Sh1.5 billion.

The court on August 15 ordered Mr Nyakutu to release the money within 30 days.

“By consensus of the lawyers of all parties, the Sh1.5 billion held by the Director of Pensions should be paid starting with the 1997 lot.

“The director shall undertake the payments within 30 days and report back to court the status and way forward on the balance,” said Justice Mulwa in her ruling.

The retirees sued earlier this year seeking to have Ms Macharia, the TSC boss, jailed for six months for failing to honour a previous Supreme Court order.

Ms Macharia faces a six-month jail term for contempt of court regarding the orders issued in December last year directing the TSC to work with the relevant offices to pay the retired teachers.

The retired teachers’ lawyer, Dominic Kimatta, told the court that the Attorney-General’s office was derailing the disbursement of the funds.

He unsuccessfully requested the court to also summon the Attorney-General, whom he accused of failing to advise the State on the need to release the pension arrears.

“Why should the process take so long yet the teachers’ records are available?” he posed.