The Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) seeks to establish new procurement rules for pension schemes after a Supreme Court ruling removed public-entity-sponsored pension funds from the country's public procurement framework.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The Authority has invited trustees, sponsors, administrators, fund managers, custodians, service providers, professional bodies, public entities, pension scheme members and members of the public to submit proposals and memoranda on the proposed Retirement Benefits Procurement Guideline.

According to the notice, the move follows a Supreme Court decision delivered on May 15, 2026, which declared Section 2(o) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015, unconstitutional and void to the extent that it applied to pension funds of public entities and their procurement systems.

The ruling means retirement benefits schemes sponsored by public entities are no longer bound by the procurement framework under the Act, creating a gap in the rules governing how pension schemes procure goods, works and services.

📌 What You Need to Know

The RBA is now seeking to develop a common standard to guide trustees in procurement while ensuring that pension members' interests remain protected. The proposed guideline is expected to apply to retirement benefits schemes' procurement of goods, works and services.

The development of the rules comes about a week after the RBA ordered pension scheme trustees and administrators to submit their audited financial accounts by September 30 or face penalties.

In a notice issued on September 22, the Authority said the directive applies to retirement schemes whose financial year ended on June 30.

According to the RBA, every scheme has three months after the close of its financial year to submit its audited accounts to the regulator. The Authority warned that schemes that miss the September 30 deadline will face penalties as provided for under the law.

Under the proposed procurement framework, trustees will remain bound by their fiduciary duties under the Retirement Benefits Act, the trust instrument and the Good Governance Practices Guidelines.

The trustees will therefore be expected to undertake procurement through processes that are transparent, fair, accountable and competitive, while also securing value for money for scheme members.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke