Teachers Service Commission (TSC) retirees and their families have endured years of delays in receiving pension and death gratuity payments, prompting the Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman) to call for urgent reforms.

“The delays are unacceptable and have caused unnecessary hardship to retired teachers and bereaved families. It is clear that systemic inefficiencies, rather than errors by retirees, are the main problem,” Ombudsman Charles Dulo said.

An investigation by the office found that compulsory retirement pensions were delayed by two to four years, while death gratuity claims took four to over six years to be processed.

Some files remained unresolved since 2014.

Mr Dulo said TSC’s decision in 2021 to merge the pension unit with mainstream human resources had worsened delays.

“Merging the pensions unit dismantled specialised expertise and left pension administration to officers with multiple HR responsibilities.

This caused files to be de-prioritised and repeated errors in processing,” he explained.

The inquiry also highlighted weaknesses in digitisation, poor supervision and outdated communication methods.

At the Pensions Department, frequent downtimes of the Pension Management Information System (PMIS), budget shortfalls and discrepancies in documentation further slowed payments.

“Retirees and families often submitted complete information, but files were delayed due to systemic failures. In some cases, disputes over beneficiaries in polygamous households or children born outside marriage stalled claims for years,” Mr Dulo noted.

To fix the problem, the Ombudsman recommended re-establishing a stand-alone pension unit at TSC, hiring additional staff, strengthening supervision and fully digitising the process.

“We also urge the Pensions Department to implement a verifiable First-In-First-Out system and for the National Treasury to ensure timely release of funds. These steps are essential to restore fairness and public confidence,” said Mr Dulo.

The reforms, if implemented, aim to eliminate long-standing backlogs, reduce human error, and ensure that retired teachers and their families receive timely benefits.