- Tuesday, April 23, 2024
By: Pramod Thomas
A group of cross-party MPs have demanded the urgent reinstatement of former Kenyan civil servant pensions after the payments were stopped in March 2019.
The lawmakers have met recently to discuss the issue. Majority of these British Kenyan pensioners are of Indian, particular Punjabi, heritage.
“It has been over 18 months since our constituents stopped receiving the pensions they are entitled to. We believe that the government should treat this matter with some urgency, which is why we are now doing all that we can to bring this issue to the government’s attention,” said a joint statement issued by the MPs.
Sharon Hodgson MP has convened the meeting. The group includes MPs Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth), Stephen Timms(East Ham), Gareth Thomas (Harrow West), Tan Dhesi(Slough), Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) and Paul Bristow (Peterborough).
Six cross party MPs have written to the minister of state for Africa James Duddridge MP, Manoah Esipisu MBS, high commissioner to the Republic of Kenya to the UK. They have also tabled Parliamentary questions and debates to resolve the issue.
The pensions are paid by Crown Agents Bank on behalf of the Kenyan government. Now, the bank says it has not received pension payments from the Kenyan government and cannot pay it out.
