NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 5 – President William Ruto has ordered a major overhaul of retirement benefit processing, directing the agencies responsible for public servants’ pensions to ensure retirees receive their dues within 10 days of leaving service.Ruto said the directive was intended to end the prolonged delays that have for years forced retired public servants to make repeated trips to government offices in pursuit of their pension payments.Speaking during the World Teachers’ Day celebrations at Kasarani in Nairobi on Monday, the President said the new turnaround time would initially be implemented through reforms targeting teachers before being extended across the wider public service.He said the Pension Management Information System (PMIS), introduced on July 1 by the Teachers Service Commission and the National Treasury, was expected to streamline the processing of retirement claims.“On July 1, 2026, the TSC and the National Treasury began rolling out the Pension Management Information System to fast-track retirement benefits,” Ruto said.According to the President, government agencies are already uploading pension records into the system in preparation for the faster processing of claims.Ruto said the agencies handling retirement benefits had given an assurance that the 10-day target would be achievable within three months.“I have given very clear instructions to the National Social Security Fund that going forward all retirement benefits of all our public workers must be ready and paid within ten days of a citizen’s retirement,” he said.The President said the reforms were meant to spare retirees the bureaucracy associated with accessing their benefits after decades of public service.In a message directed particularly at teachers, Ruto said retirees should not have to travel between government offices or seek political intervention to access money they had earned during their careers. “We have said that when a teacher is retiring, they should not struggle on the road moving from one office to another, or struggle looking for an MP or anyone else [to help them access their benefits,”President Ruto noted.Ruto said the system would eventually be standardised across the public service, rather than being confined to teachers.“We want to make it uniform across the public service,” he said.Long-running pension delaysThe pledge comes against a backdrop of persistent complaints over delays in the processing and payment of retirement benefits.An investigation by the Commission on Administrative Justice found that about 70 per cent of retired public servants surveyed were dissatisfied with the processing and disbursement of their pension benefits. The complaints included delays, bureaucracy, unresponsive officials and lack of transparency in the calculation of benefits.The Ombudsman said that since 2019 it had received 318 complaints involving the Pensions Department, with 274 relating specifically to delayed pension processing. Of those cases, some retirees had waited for several years, while others had been in limbo for decades.An audit of pension payments found that retirement benefits had taken an average of 195 days to process, despite the Treasury’s service charter providing for payment within 90 days after receipt of a claim.The Auditor-General has also raised concerns over incomplete pension records and claims that remained unpaid despite funds having been allocated for their settlement.The latest reforms are therefore expected to address not only the time taken to approve claims but also problems associated with incomplete records and the movement of files between government departments.Unremitted pension contributionsThe pension crisis has also extended to the remittance of contributions by government institutions.An audit of the Public Service Superannuation Fund found that Sh10.6 billion in employer and employee contributions had not been remitted by the end of June 2025. Although Sh9.38 billion was subsequently cleared, about Sh1.2 billion remained outstanding during the audit period.Delayed remittances can reduce the period during which retirement savings earn investment returns, potentially affecting the benefits ultimately available to workers.County employees have faced an even larger pension challenge. In August 2026, the Senate said it was examining outstanding county pension obligations after a multi-agency task force was established to address the non-remittance of pension deductions by county governments.Reports in August put unpaid county pension deductions at Sh115.7 billion, with senators raising concerns over the failure of some counties to provide information needed to resolve the arrears.Retired Nairobi County employees have separately sought answers over delayed benefits and unremitted deductions involving the Local Authorities Pension Trust (LAPFUND).The Government hopes the pension information system will reduce dependence on manual records and speed up verification of employees approaching retirement.For teachers, the system is expected to allow relevant agencies to access and process employment and retirement records earlier, reducing the time between a worker’s exit from service and payment of benefits.Ruto said the reforms would be expanded beyond the teaching service once the initial implementation is completed.