RBA eyes counties, media to educate informal workers on saving for retirement*

The Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) is targeting county governments to increase its membership and assets held by pension schemes in counties.

Paying a courtesy call to Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso, RBA Chairman Victor Pratt said the Authority is targeting jua kali artisans, vegetable vendors and other small entrepreneurs in the informal sector to join pension schemes.

“This financial year we have started in Bomet County after conducting similar campaigns in Machakos, Kisumu, Kisii, Homabay, Kakamega, Kilifi and Vihiga counties in the last financial year, said Pratt on Friday in Sotik, Bomet County, where he launched a sensitisation campaign.

“We are working with Governors, Media and other stakeholders in the pension sector. Our main target is small-scale enterprises in the informal sector and those in the formal sector not saving enough for retirement,” he said.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Authority held similar campaigns in Bomet town and Mogogosiek markets respectively, an initiative launched by Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso.

Pratt said RBA aims to expand pension coverage this year, especially with the sensitisation campaigns targeted for Bomet, Siaya, Garissa, Nakuru, Kajiado and Meru counties.

Speaking on Thursday at a Media Summit organised by the Media Council of Kenya, RBA CEO Nzomo Mutuku said for the past three years, pension coverage ratio had increased from 15 per cent to 20 % of the labour force.

“We have currently recorded 20% of Kenyans on pension scheme and the reason it is low is because the labour force is in the informal sector where they don’t have an elaborative pension arrangement like the formal sector,” Mutuku said.

“That is why the Retirement Benefits has pledged to work with the Media Council of Kenya to empower journalists with the vital financial literacy skills that would see them save more and willingly join pension schemes of their choice so that they do not retire into poverty,” he said.

“We are looking at nurturing a crop of journalists who are apt in reporting pension and other financial sector issues and empowering them into understanding under currents in the financial sector that the public should know. In addition these journalists can play a key role in highlighting
issues that need attention of policy makers,” Mutuku added.

Most people who have not prepared for their retirement often plunge into poverty and frustration after exiting the workforce. This is why we are urging all Kenyans to make definite arrangements during working life to care for necessities like food, shelter, and clothing health in old age.

Speaking in Bomet, Pratt said the Authority is also working with the Micro and Small Enterprise Authority (MSEA) to engage the pension industry players on the ground on a daily basis.

“With MSEA, it will be easy to work directly and engage the small enterprises and encourage them to start or join pension schemes. Most of the new jobs are now found in the informal sector, which for long did not have a defined pension arrangement,” said Pratt.

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“Unlike workers in the formal sector who are likely to be enrolled in pension schemes, their counterparts in the informal sector must take initiative to plan for their sunset years or plunge into old-age poverty,” the Chairman said.