NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 2 – The Council of Governors and County Assemblies Forum on Thursday protested a move by the national government to regulate the Local Authority Pension Trust (LAPTRUST) and County Pension Fund (CPF) under the State Corporations Act.
The two entities representing the executive and legislative arms in counties insisted that the funds must continue to operate within the framework of the County Governments Act.
“LAPTRUST and CPF are neither state corporations nor agencies of the national government to warrant pervasive control and direction embodied in the impugned directives,” read a joint statement by the CoG and CAF.
CoG’s Human Resource Committee Chairperson Governor Wycliffe Wangamati and CAF’s Ndegwa Wahome said the directive contained in a circular released on August 22 by the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua was illegal.
“It is worth noting that a trust is a legal matter that can only be revoked as prescribed by the law and not in any other way,” Governor Wangamati stated.
Wangamati and Wahome faulted Kinyua for issuing a circular misrepresenting a position taken following a consultative meeting.
“The issuance of the most recent circular certainly goes against the spirit of consultations between the two levels of government agreed upon at the meeting,” CoG and CAF noted.
CAF Secretary General Kipkirui Chepkwony threatened to move to court if the matter is not resolved.
“The State is coming for our personal monies from civil servant contribution. Our future is at stake if we allow the state to get their hands into this cookie jar,” Chepkwony lamented.
The statement by CoG and CAF is the latest attempt by counties to fight off a plan by the national government to control the pension schemes amid concerns the State could mismanage funds in the pension funds totaling over Sh60 billion.
“From the foregoing we ask the State Corporations Advisory Committee to refrain from proceeding with the matter until such a time that the two levels of government amicably resolve the issue at hand,” the two reiterated.
LAPTRUST was established under the Local Governments Act, which transitioned to the County Government Act in 2012. CPF, on the other hand, was established in 2011 and earmarked by the National Treasury as a scheme for county government employees.
