Asian Officers’ Family Pensions Act

This Act may be cited as the Asian Officers’ Family Pensions Act.

Section 2 provides definitions of terms used in the Act (for example “actuary”, “approved scheme”, “Asian officer”, “beneficiary”, “member”, “public service”, “salary”, “the Board”, and “the Fund”), sets the rules for pensionable age for children, addresses legitimation by marriage, and specifies which marriages are treated as valid for purposes of the Act.

Section establishes the Board membership and roles: Deputy Permanent Secretary to the Treasury and four public officers (appointed by the Minister); Deputy Secretary, Establishment Division is chairman; members appointed under paragraph (b) hold office for three years; Minister may appoint temporary replacements; appointments notified in Gazette; quorum is chairman plus two members; chairman has casting vote; Board shall appoint and may replace a secretary.

The Board must and has the power to make rules regulating its own proceedings.

Establishes the Asian Officers’ Family Pensions Fund to provide pensions for widows and orphans of members.

Registers shall be kept recording members' births, spouses and children entitled to pensions, contributions paid into the Fund by Asian Officers’ Family Pensions or on behalf of each member, pensions payable on death, and other particulars material for the Act.

Members must notify the Board in writing of certain personal events: within three months of first becoming a member they must notify their date of birth and, if married or a widower with pensionable children, marriage and birth dates; members who marry while a member must notify the Board within three months of the marriage and the birth date of the wife.

If a member or widow fails to comply with section 7 they must pay up to forty shillings to the Board (which may be deducted from salary or pension). If a member or widow wilfully makes a false statement, rights under the Fund may be forfeited and the Board may direct increases to a child’s pension; the Board may also recover sums paid from the Fund due to failure, neglect or false statement.

An actuary approved by the President must value the Fund at intervals of not more than ten years and make a report to the President describing how any surplus or deficit should be handled.

Every Asian officer appointed on or before 31 March 1964 to a government post (permanently or temporarily) must become a member of the Fund, subject to sections 13 and 13A; officers employed before 1 June 1949 on probation or agreement are not compelled to become members for the period before 1 June 1949 during which they were so employed.

Any Asian officer who was a contributor to the specified prior fund may, subject to conditions, elect within 90 days after commencement to become a member of the Fund.

If an Asian officer elects under section 11 to join the Fund, then on the day he becomes a member he must stop being a contributor to the Asiatic Widows’ and Orphans’ Fund and his account there shall be closed and transferred to the Fund.

If an Asian officer who stops having this Act applied to him because he elects to have the Widows’ and Children’s Pensions Act applied has made contributions that are not repayable under this Act, a capital sum shall be transferred from the Fund to the Consolidated Fund equal to the amount an approved actuary considers attributable to those retained contributions.

Lists classes of "Asian officers" who are not eligible to contribute to the Fund and provides that the Board may grant exemptions and may require proof of continuing contribution under an approved scheme under stated time limits and conditions.

Asian officers who were members before 1 April 1964 may, by written notice to their accounting officer received within three months of 1 April 1964 (unless the President allows a later acceptance), elect not to continue contributing; if they do so their membership ends from the first day of the month in which the notice is received.

Members must contribute a specified percentage of salary or pension to the Fund, with specified procedures for accrual, deduction, optional additional contributions, limits and revocation.

Parliament-provided moneys are to be paid into the Fund for each member at 2.5% of annual salary or pension plus 3.5% interest compounded annually; such contributions from Parliamentary moneys are paid on the last day of each calendar month and accrue daily. Certain persons approved by the President may pay arrears and the President may direct treatment of earlier periods.

Contributions cease if he attains the age of fifty-five years; or

If a member's salary is reduced, the member may continue making contributions based on the salary immediately before the reduction if he gives written notice to the Board of his desire to do so.

A member who left and is reappointed must, from reappointment, contribute to the Fund at the rate he would have paid had he not previously been a member; if that rate is lower than his previous rate he may elect in writing to continue contributing at his previous (higher) rate and may revoke that election at any time.

Except where this Act expressly provides otherwise, contributions made by a member and contributions paid from moneys provided by Parliament to the credit of a member must not be repaid.

A bachelor or a widower without pensionable children is entitled to repayment of contributions they paid, with compound interest; interest is calculated at two and a half percentum per annum with annual rests, accruing from the first day of the month after each contribution is due and ceasing on the last day of the month before the payment is due.

A person may remain a member of the service for purposes of this Act, without making further contributions, if he elects in writing to the Board within three months of transfer.

A member transferring to another service may, by written notice to the Board within three months of transfer, continue contributing to the Fund at his current rate.

Members must either contribute at a rate tied to their pension or cease contributions; special time limits apply for claims after death; members must stop contributing if their wife dies and children are no longer pensionable; for calculation a reduced pension is treated as the unreduced pension.

An election under specified sections is irrevocable; if a member's monthly contribution (or part) remains unpaid for three months they shall be deemed to have elected to cease contributing, but the Board may in special cases direct a longer period.

If a married member or a widower with children of pensionable age leaves the public service because of ill-health and is not granted a pension from the funds of Kenya, then if he dies within two years of retirement any pension payable on his death must be calculated as if he had died the day before his retirement.

The Permanent Secretary to the Treasury must pay (or cause to be paid) pensions under the Act as they become due; beneficiaries may opt to receive a pension quarterly instead of monthly.

If a member’s monthly contributions are increased, their pension is increased by the amount corresponding to the additional contribution; if contributions are reduced or cease (in specified cases), the pension is reduced correspondingly.

On the death of a member who leaves one or more beneficiaries, the beneficiary (or each such beneficiary) shall receive a pension under this Act.

If there is one child of a member by a marriage entitled to a pension, that child gets the same pension rate as the mother received (or would have received); if there are two or more such children they share the mother’s rate equally. Pensions lapse or are reallocated when a child dies or ceases to be of pensionable age.

Adopted children may be entitled to a pension (or share) if the member adopted the child before retirement, was under 55 at adoption, and the adoption complied with the law where the member resided; payments are not allowed if they would reduce pensions payable to the widow or marital children.

If the beneficiary is the widow of a member, her pension stops on remarriage; if the pension ceases (including by death of the widow or forfeiture) and there are no children of the marriage of pensionable age the pension lapses; if there are such children the pension is paid to those children, and in some circumstances the widow may be paid instead until the children cease to be of pensionable age or be paid in lieu thereafter if advantageous.

If a widow beneficiary is adjudged bankrupt or insolvent, the Board can direct that her pension lapse; if it has not done so the Board may pay an allowance (up to the pension rate) to the widow or her children, and the President may direct increases to pensions for children of other marriages when such allowances are less than the pension.

Widows and issue from marriages contracted after specified events are generally not beneficiaries; a widow whose husband dies within twelve months of marriage and with no issue is also not entitled, but the Board may direct payment of a hypothetical pension to her and if it does she becomes entitled.

If the Board is satisfied the widow has deserted, abandoned, or failed to maintain a pensionable-age child, the Board may pay part of the pension to that child and the widow has no further claim to that portion.

Payment of minors’ pensions and widows’ allowances

The Board may require proof that a pension claimant (or someone on whose behalf a claim is made) is alive and entitled to pension.

Pensions and rights of members under this Act are not to be assigned, transferred, or levied upon for any debt or claim; however, contributions or sums due to the Fund or debts due to the Government may be deducted from amounts payable from the Fund, and sums due to the Fund or the Government from a widow or child may be deducted from any pension or allowance payable to such widow or child.

Rates of exchange for payments under this Act shall be those determined from time to time by the President where conversion is necessary.

The Board must refer certain membership, pension and rights disputes to the President; the President’s decision is final and binding and may not be questioned by any court.

The president may make regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act.