Nairobi — A candid admission by Prime Minister Raila Odinga that retiring teachers are subjected to suffering when they follow up their dues because of inefficiency at the pensions department deserves praise.

Addressing teachers at their delegates conference last week, Mr Odinga said he had directed the Efficiency Monitoring Unit to move in and ensure hurdles inhibiting the prompt payment of pensions are cleared during this financial year.

Officers, he said, should receive their pension payment immediately upon removal from the payroll.

Should this idea succeed, it will be very welcome. This is because it will help ease the agony retirees go through as they follow up on their pensions.

A report by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission last year, for example, unearthed a scandal in which middlemen exploit retirees, with some funds being wired to different accounts by conmen. As a result, some retirees pursue this payment for as long as a year without success.

It is sad that such irregularities continue to dog the pensions payment plan when a law exists that requires employers to retain officers on the payroll until their payments are released.

Instead, the officers are allowed to leave service, and some forced to retreat to their villages poorer than some of the jobless people in the rural areas. Added to the challenges that come with the sudden removal from the payroll, the frustrations condemn some retirees to an early grave.

Teachers Service Commission secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni said the TSC has always processed pension documents for retired officers fast before forwarding them to Treasury. That places the blame clearly on the pensions department which must clean its house to ensure retiring officers do not suffer.

The Efficiency Monitoring Unit now must execute Mr Odinga's directive and help clear the mess at the department if retired officers are to enjoy their life after formal employment.