Asian Officers’ Family Pensions Act

Section 1. Short title Section This Act may be cited as the Asian Officers’ Family Pensions Act.

Section 2. Interpretation Section 2(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires— “actuary” means a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries or the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland; “approved scheme” means a scheme or fund for the granting of pensions to the widows and children of officers in the public service , which has been declared by the President to be an approved scheme for the purposes of this Act; “Asian officer” means— (a) any male officer appointed to the service of the Government on terms ordinarily applicable to Asians; and (b) any person, not otherwise eligible for membership of the Fund , who the President may, subject to the provisions of section 13 of this Act and subject also to such conditions as he may determine, admit to membership of the Fund; “beneficiary” means— (a) the widow of a member ; (b) the child of pensionable age of a member , by his marriage with any wife who has died or whose marriage is not deemed to be a valid marriage under this Act: Provided that when there are two or more such children of one marriage, such children shall constitute one beneficiary; “Bombay Agents” means the Agents in India for the Government; “Karachi Agents” mea...

Section 3. Establishment of Board Section 3(1)(a) the Deputy Permanent Secretary to the Treasury; and Section 3(1)(b) four public officers appointed by the Minister. Section 3(2) The Deputy Secretary, Establishment Division of the Treasury shall be the chairman of the Board . Section 3(3) Members of the Board appointed under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section shall hold office for a period of three years from the date of appointment: Provided that, on the death, inability to act, resignation or absence from Kenya for more than three months of any such member , the Minister may appoint a public officer to the vacancy, who shall act in the place of such member until he returns to the Board , or until the period of his appointment expires, as the case may be. Section 3(4) All appointments and determinations of appointments shall be notified in the Gazette . Section 3(5) The chairman and two other members shall form a quorum. Section 3(6) The chairman shall have a casting vote in addition to his deliberative vote. Section 3(7) The Board shall from time to time appoint an officer to be secretary, and may replace at its pleasure any officer so appointed.

Section 4. Duties and powers of Board Section to make rules regulating its own proceedings;

Section 5. Fund Section 5(1) A Fund, to be known as the Asian Officers’ Family Pensions Fund, shall be established for providing pensions for the widows and orphans of members of the Fund . Section 5(2) All pensions and repayments of contributions (including interest, if any) authorised by this Act and all expenses incurred in the administration of the Fund , including the obtaining of actuarial advice, shall be paid out of the Fund . Section 5(3) All contributions made by members, all contributions made from moneys provided by Parliament to the credit of members, all interest on investments of the Fund and all sums paid under section 8 of this Act shall be credited to the Fund. Section 5(4) All moneys belonging to the Fund shall be deposited with the Deputy Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, and, except as regards such part thereof as the Board considers it expedient to retain for making payment out of the Fund under this Act, shall, so far as practicable, be invested on behalf of the Fund in such securities, or employed at interest, in such manner, as may be approved by the Board ; and such investment may be at any time changed into securities so approved, and any sums required...

Section 6. Registers of members to be kept Section Registers shall be kept, in which shall be entered the date of the birth of every member , and of every wife and child who may become, or shall be, entitled to pension under this Act, and particulars of all contributions paid into the Fund by Asian Officers’ Family Pensions or on behalf of each member , and the pension or pensions for the time being payable in respect of each member in the event of his death, and all other dates and particulars respecting members and their families material to be recorded for the purposes of this Act.

Section 7. Information to be furnished by members and widows Section 7(1) Every member shall within three months of his first becoming a member notify to the Board in writing the date of his birth and, if he is then married or a widower with children of pensionable age, the dates of his marriage and of the births of his wife and children (if any). Section 7(2) Every member who marries while a member shall within three months after his marriage notify to the Board in writing the fact and date of his marriage and the date of the birth of his wife. Section 7(3)(a) the birth of any child born to him and the date thereof or the adoption by him of a child of pensionable age and the date thereof; Section 7(3)(b) the marriage of any female child of his under the age of twenty-one years; Section 7(3)(c) the death of his wife and the death or adoption of any of his children of pensionable age, occurring while he is a member ; Section 7(3)(d) the annulment or dissolution of his marriage and the date thereof. Section 7(4)(a) the date of the death of such member , if he was not at the time in the service of the Government; Section 7(4)(b) the birth of any posthumous child of such member and the...

Section 8. Penalty for non-compliance or false statement Section 8(1) A member or widow who fails or neglects to comply with any of the requirements of section 7 of this Act shall for each default be liable, at the Asian Officers’ Family Pensions discretion of the Board, to pay to the Board a sum not exceeding forty shillings, which may be deducted from his or her salary or pension, as the case may be. Section 8(2) If a member or widow of a member at any time wilfully makes any false statement respecting any of the particulars required by this Act or any regulations made thereunder to be furnished, all or any part of the rights under the Fund of the member or the widow or any child of the member shall be liable to be forfeited at the discretion of the Board , and the Board may give directions for increasing the pension payable to any child of the member in consequence of forfeiture under this section of the rights of any child or the widow of the member , and such pension shall be increased accordingly. Section 8(3) Nothing in this section shall prejudice any right of the Board to recover any sum paid out of the Fund which would not have been paid but for such failure, neglect or f...

Section 9. Valuation of Fund Section The Fund shall be valued at intervals of not more than ten years by an actuary approved by the President, who shall make a report to the President in which shall be set out the methods by which in his opinion any surplus in the Fund may appropriately be dealt with or any deficit may appropriately be made good, whether by way of adjustment of contributions or benefits or otherwise, and, if the President approves of any such method which would not necessitate amendment of this Act, regulations under this Act may be made for giving effect thereto. [ Act No. 9 of 1961 , s. 4, Act No. 21 of 1966 , Second Sch.]

Section 10. Who shall be members ofthe Fund Section Subject to sections 13 and 13A of this Act, every Asian officer appointed on or before the 31st March, 1964, permanently or temporarily to a post in the service of the Government shall become a member of the Fund: Provided that an Asian officer in the service of the Government who before the 1st June, 1949, was employed in the service of the Government on a letter of probationary appointment or on agreement, shall not be compelled to become a member of the Fund in respect of any period before the said 1st June, 1949, during which he was so employed on a letter of probationary appointment or on agreement. [ Act No. 64 of 1951 , s. 5, Act No. 18 of 1964 , s. 2.]

Section 11. Option to members of old fund Section 11(1) Any Asian officer who, at the date of the coming into force of this Act, is a contributor to the fund established under the Asiatic Widows’ and Orphans’ Pension Act ( Cap. 193 ), upon passing a medical examination to the satisfaction of the Board and upon payment of the arrears as herein defined, may within ninety days after the commencement of this Act elect to become a member of the Fund. Section 11(2) For the purposes of this section, arrears means the difference between the total amount of his contributions to the first-mentioned fund and the contributions which he would have paid to the Fund if this Act had been in force at the time he began to contribute to the first-mentioned fund, plus three and one-half per centum interest compounded annually.

Section 12. Asian Officers’ Family Pensions Section Transfer of accounts from old fund Where an Asian officer elects under section 11 of this Act to become a member of the Fund, he shall, on the day that he becomes a member thereof, cease to be a contributor to the Asiatic Widows’ and Orphans’ Fund as defined in the Asiatic Widows’ and Orphans’ Pension Act ( Cap. 193 ), and his account in the latter fund shall be closed and the amount standing to his credit therein, together with the interest due, shall be transferred to the Fund. [ Act No. 64 of 1951 , s. 6, Act No. 9 of 1961 , s. 5.]

Section 13. Who are not eligible to contribute Section 13(1)(a) Asian officers whose salaries are less than one hundred and twenty pounds per annum; Section 13(1)(b) Asian officers who are unmarried and are at the time of employment under the age of twenty-one years: Provided that, if they are otherwise liable to contribute, they shall on becoming married or on reaching the age of twenty-one years forthwith become members; Section 13(1)(c) Asian officers who have attained their fifty-fourth birthday; Section 13(1)(d) subject to the provisions of section 11 of this Act, Asian officers who are contributors to the fund established under the Asiatic Widows’ and Orphans’ Pension Act; Section 13(1)(e) Asian officers in the service of the Government as learners and apprentices; Section 13(1)(f) Asian officers whose engagement, not being for a specified period, is terminable at one month’s notice or less; Section 13(1)(g) any other class of persons whom the President may by order declare to be ineligible to contribute on the grounds that it is impossible or inexpedient to apply the provisions of this Act to such class; Section 13(1)(h) such officer is appointed on or after a day determined...

Section 14. Contributions of members Section 14(1) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, every member shall contribute to the Fund at the rate of four and one-half per centum per annum of his annual salary or pension for the time being: Provided that no member shall be required to contribute at a higher rate than £60 a year. Section 14(2) If a member is on leave on part salary or without salary , or is under interdiction, he shall contribute at the ordinary rate. Section 14(3) Contributions under this section shall accrue daily, and shall be deducted monthly in arrear from the salary or pension , as the case may be, of each member , and, if during a period of leave without salary a member does not pay his contributions, the amount of his contributions in arrear shall be deducted from the salary payable to him subsequent to such leave in such instalments as the Board may in each case determine. Section 14(4) A member may, within three months after the date of his first payment of contribution under this Act or within three months after marrying, by written notice to the Board elect to make an additional annual contribution of two and one-quarter percentum of his annual salary : Pr...

Section 15. Contributions to Fund from public moneys Section 15(1) Upon the commencement of this section, there shall be paid to the Fund from moneys provided by Parliament to the credit of each member a sum equal to the total amounts which would have been paid to his credit if contributions had been made from such moneys at the rate of two and one-half per centum of his annual salary or pension for the time being from the commencement of this Act, plus three and one-half per centum interest compounded annually. Section 15(2)(a) who is transferred from the service of the Government to other public service and the provisions of section 21 or section 22 of this Act apply; Section 15(2)(b) whose contributions to the Fund have ceased under this Act. Section 15(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, where any person is, pursuant to paragraph (b) of the definition of “Asian officer” in section 2 of this Act, approved for membership of the Fund by the President and is permitted to pay arrears of contributions to the Fund, the contribution payable under subsection (2) of this section shall not be paid in respect of any period before such person was so approved...

Section 16. Cessation of contributions Section if he attains the age of fifty-five years; or

Section 17. Contributions may continue in full ifsalaryreduced Section If the salary of a member is reduced, he may, upon giving notice in writing to the Board of his desire to do so, continue to make contributions computed by reference to his salary immediately before the reduction.

Section 18. Contributions by members on reappointment Section Where a member having left the service of Kenya is reappointed thereto, and immediately before the date of his reappointment is making contribution to the Fund under Part V of this Act, he shall, as from the date of such reappointment, contribute at the rate at which he would have contributed if he had not been a member before that date: Provided that, if and so long as that rate is less than the rate at which he was contributing before the said date, he may, if he so elects by notice in writing addressed to the Board , continue to contribute at the last-mentioned rate; and he may at any time revoke such election. [ Act No. 21 of 1961 , Sch.]

Section 12A. Equalization of funds for past members Section Where an Asian officer who ceases to have this Act applied to him as a result of his election that the Widows’ and Children’s Pensions Act ( Cap. 195 ) shall apply to him has made contributions which are not repayable to him under the provisions of this Act, there shall be transferred from the Fund to the Consolidated Fund a capital sum which in the opinion of an actuary approved by the President is actuarially attributable to the contributions retained by the Fund in respect of such officer. [ Act No. 11 of 1971 , s. 3.]

Section 13A. Option to members of Fund Section Any Asian officer , who before the 1st April, 1964, was a member of the Fund , may elect by written notice addressed to the accounting officer of his Ministry or Department and, unless the President is of the opinion that in the particular circumstances of the case the notice should be accepted at a later date, received by the accounting officer within three months of the 1st April, 1964, not to continue Asian Officers’ Family Pensions to contribute, in which case he shall cease to be a member (in so far as that expression means an officer who is contributing to the Fund ) with effect from the first day of the month in which such notice is received by the accounting officer. [ Act No. 18 of 1964 , s. 4, Act No. 21 of 1966 , Second Sch.]

Section 19. Contributions not normally to be repaid Section Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, no contributions made by a member and no contributions paid from moneys provided by Parliament to the credit of a member shall be repaid. [ Act No. 64 of 1951 , s. 8, L.N. 123/1964.]

Section 20. Repayment to bachelor or widower without pensionable children Section 20(1)(a) in the case of a bachelor, the amount of the contributions paid by him with compound interest thereon; and Section 20(1)(b) in the case of a widower, the amount of the contributions paid by him during the period from the death of his last wife or the ceasing to be of pensionable age of his last child, whichever event last happens, with compound interest thereon: Section 20(2) For the purposes of this section, interest shall be calculated at two and a half percentum per annum, with annual rests at the 31st December in each year, the interest beginning to accrue in respect of each contribution on the first day of the month following the day upon which the contribution is due and ceasing on the last day of the month preceding the day upon which payment under this section is due.

Section 21. Transfer ofmemberto another service which has provision for widows’ and orphans’ pensions Section he shall, if he so elects by notice in writing addressed to the Board not later than three months after the date of transfer, remain a member for the purposes of this Act without making further contributions;

Section 22. Transfer ofmemberto another service which has no provision for widows’ and orphans’ pensions Section he may, if he so elects by notice in writing addressed to the Board not later than three months after the date of transfer, continue to contribute to the Fund at the rate at which he was contributing at that date;

Section 23. Continuance of contributions of marriedmemberor widower with pensionable children after retirement onpension Section 23(1)(a) to contribute at a rate appropriate to the amount of such pension ; or Section 23(1)(b) to cease to contribute as from the first day of the month in which such notice is so addressed, Section 23(2)(a) if at the date of his death he is contributing as provided in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section, not later than three years after the date of his retirement; Section 23(2)(b) if at the date of his death he has ceased to contribute, not later than two years after the date of his retirement, Section 23(3) If such a member continues to contribute under subsection (1) of this section and subsequently his wife dies and his children, if any, cease to be of pensionable age or die, he shall cease to contribute. Section 23(4) Where an officer has elected or been compelled to receive a reduced pension and gratuity, in lieu of a pension which he might have received but for such election or compulsion, his pension shall, for the purpose of calculating his contributions under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section, be deemed to be the amou...

Section 24. Provisions regarding election Section 24(1) Except as otherwise expressly provided, an election under any of sections 13(1)(h)(ii) , 13A , 21 , 22 and 23 of this Act, shall be irrevocable. Section 24(2) If the whole or any part of a monthly contribution of a member who may elect to cease to contribute remains unpaid for a period of three months, he shall be deemed to have so elected on the first day of the month in respect of which such contribution was payable: Provided that, if in any special case the Board so directs, this subsection shall have effect as if for the reference to three months there was substituted a reference to such longer period as the Board may determine. [ Act No. 18 of 1964 , s. 7.]

Section 25. Retirement for ill-health withoutpension Section If a member who is married or a widower with children of pensionable age retires from the public service on the ground of ill-health and is not granted a pension from the funds of Kenya, any pension payable on his death shall, if such death occurs not later than two years after the date of his retirement, be computed as if he had died on the day preceding that date. [ Act No. 64 of 1951 , s. 9.]

Section 26. Calculation of pensions Section 26(1) Pensions under this Act shall be calculated in accordance with the Pensions Tables and Instructions set forth in the Schedules to this Act, and the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury shall pay the pensions, or cause them to be paid by the Bombay Agents or the Karachi Agents , as the case may be, as they become due. Section 26(2) All pensions payable under this Act shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, commence upon the day after the death of the member in respect of whom they are payable, shall accrue daily and shall be payable monthly in arrear: Provided that a pension may be paid quarterly instead of monthly if the person to whom it is payable so desires.

Section 27. Effect of increases and reductions in contributions Section 27(1) If the total monthly contributions payable by and on behalf of a member who is married or a widower with children of pensionable age are increased, any pension payable in respect of that member shall be increased by an amount corresponding to the pension which would become payable by virtue of a contribution equivalent to the increase if the member were to commence to contribute to the Fund at the date of the increase. Section 27(2) If such contributions are reduced, any pension payable in respect of him shall be reduced by the amount by which it would have been increased had such contributions been increased instead of reduced. Section 27(3) When contributions cease to be payable otherwise than in the cases mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 16 of this Act, the cessation thereof shall be deemed to be a reduction for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section.

Section 28. Rights of individual beneficiaries Section on the death of a member leaving one or more beneficiaries, the beneficiary , or each of such beneficiaries, as the case may be, shall receive a pension in accordance with the provisions of this Act; Asian Officers’ Family Pensions

Section 29. Pensions to children Section 29(1) Where there is only one child of a member by any marriage entitled to pension , the pension shall be at the same rate as the pension which his or her mother received or would have received if it had been payable to her, and shall lapse when such child ceases to be of pensionable age or dies. Section 29(2) Where there are two or more children of a member by any marriage entitled to pension , the pension shall be at the same rate as the pension which their mother received or would have received if it had become payable to her, and shall be paid to such children in equal shares; when any of such children ceases to be of pensionable age or dies his or her share of such pension shall be paid to the remaining child of the same marriage of pensionable age, or, if there are two or more such children, to those children in equal shares.

Section 30. Pensions to adopted children Section 30(1)(a) the member adopted the child before he retired from the public service ; and Section 30(1)(b) the member was under the age of fifty-five years at the time of the adoption; and Section 30(1)(c) the adoption was in accordance with the law of the place where the member was resident at the time of the adoption. Section 30(2)(a) in the lifetime of the member or while a pension is being paid under this Act to the mother of such child, shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have died at the date of the adoption; Section 30(2)(b) after the death of the member shall, if such child is being paid a pension or a share of a pension under this Act, continue to be paid such pension or such share. Section 30(3) Nothing in this section shall entitle an adopted child to be paid any pension or a share in any pension where the payment to him of such pension or share would diminish the pension or the share of any pension immediately payable or being paid at the date on which this section comes into operation to the widow or to any child or children by marriage of the member . Section 30(4) The provisions of this section shall have eff...

Section 31. Death or remarriage of widow Section 31(1) Where a beneficiary is the widow of a member , the pension shall cease to be payable to her on her remarriage. Section 31(2) When such pension ceases as aforesaid or by reason of the death of the widow or is forfeited under subsection (2) of section 8 of this Act, if there are no children of the marriage of the widow with the member living and of pensionable age, the pension shall lapse; and if there are such children the pension shall be paid to such children in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Section 31(3)(a) as from the date of the death of her husband; or Section 31(3)(a)(i) as from the date of the death of her husband; or Section 31(3)(a)(ii) as from the date when such children cease to be of pensionable age; Section 31(3)(b) may, if she becomes entitled on the death of her husband, being a member , to be paid a pension , be paid such pension till such children cease to be of pensionable age; and may then, without prejudice to any rights under this Act of the children of her marriage with her husband, be paid in lieu the pension which was payable to her before her remarriage, if that would be to her advantage....

Section 32. Bankruptcy of widow Section Where a beneficiary , being a widow of a member , is adjudged bankrupt or declared insolvent by any competent court, the pension shall thereupon cease to be payable to her, and, if the Board so directs, shall lapse: Provided that, if and so long as the Board has not directed that the pension shall lapse, the Board may during the remainder of her life, or during such shorter period or periods, either continuous or discontinuous, as they think fit, from time to time pay an allowance at a rate not exceeding the rate of such pension to such widow or to any child or children of her marriage with the member , or in part to the widow and in part to any such child or children; and where the amount of the allowance so paid is less than the amount of the pension the President may give directions for increasing, in consequence of the reduction under this section of the amount payable out of the Fund , the pension payable to any child of any other marriage of the member , and such pension shall be increased accordingly.

Section 33. Certain persons not entitled topension Section 33(1) No widow of a member whose marriage with him is contracted after he has either attained the age of fifty-five years or left the public service and no issue of such marriage shall constitute a beneficiary for the purposes of this Act or become entitled to pension . Section 33(2) Where a member dies within twelve months of his marriage and there is no issue of such marriage, his widow shall not constitute a beneficiary for the purposes of, or become entitled to any pension under, this Act: Provided that the Board may direct that all or any part of the pension to which such widow would have been entitled but for the provisions of this subsection (in this section called the hypothetical pension ) shall be paid to her; and where the Board so directs the widow shall be entitled to payment accordingly and shall constitute a beneficiary for the purposes of this Act; and, if by virtue of the direction of the Board part only of the hypothetical pension becomes payable to such widow, the pension payable to any other beneficiary shall be increased by an amount which shall bear to the difference between the pension which would hav...

Section 34. Failure to maintain child Section If the Board is satisfied that the widow of a member while in receipt of a pension has deserted or abandoned or has failed or is failing to maintain or assist, so far as her means allow, a child of her marriage with the member whom she is bound by law to maintain and who is of pensionable age, the Board may, in its uncontrolled discretion, while such child remains of pensionable age, pay or cause to be paid to such child such portion of the pension as they may think fit and the widow shall have no further claim in respect of any portion of the pension so paid.

Section 35. Payment of minors’ pensions and widows’ allowances Section to such minor or widow; or

Section 36. Proof of claim topension Section The Board may require such proof as it considers desirable that any person who claims to be entitled to pension , or on behalf of whom such claim is made, is alive and entitled to pension , and the payment of any pension may be refused until such proof is furnished to the satisfaction of the Board .

Section 37. Pension not to be assigned or levied upon Section Except as expressly provided in this Act no pension payable, and no rights of any member , under this Act shall be assignable or transferable or liable to be attached, sequestered or levied upon for, or in respect of, any debt or claim whatsoever: Provided that any contribution or other sum due to the Fund or any debt due to the Government from a member or deceased member may be deducted from any amount payable out of the Fund to or in respect of such member ; and any sum due to the Fund or any debt due to the Government from a widow or child of a member may be deducted from any pension or allowance payable to or on behalf of such widow or child by virtue of this Act.

Section 38. Rates of exchange Section For the payment of contributions, pensions and all other sums under this Act, the rate or rates of exchange in all cases where conversion is necessary, shall be such as may be determined from time to time by the President for the purpose.

Section 39. Questions to be decided by the President Section All questions and disputes as to who is entitled to be regarded as a member , or as to the right of a widow or child to a pension , or as to the amount of such pension , or as to the rights or liabilities of any person under this Act, shall be referred by the Board to the President, and the President’s decision shall be binding and conclusive on all parties, shall be final to all intents and purposes, and shall not be subject to appeal or be called in question by or before any court.

Section 40. Regulations Section The president may make regulations for the carrying out of the provisions of this Act. [L.N. 123/1964, s. 3, Act No. 21 of 1966 , Second Sch.]