Telposta Pension Evicts Former Telkom Kenya Employees After Decades-Long Property Dispute

The Telposta Pension Scheme has initiated the eviction of approximately 100 former Telkom Kenya employees from its properties along Jogoo Road in Nairobi, concluding a two-decade-long dispute over a Sh700 million property.

The eviction follows a final judgment issued by the High Court on October 17, 2024, which ruled in favour of the scheme, allowing it to proceed with the eviction. The scheme began the eviction process on Monday and continued on Tuesday. The scheme has announced plans to renovate some of the dilapidated houses to lease them at current market rates and sell others that had been marked for disposal.

The board of trustees states that they intend to regularize all the tenants and renovate the units to attract higher rents for the pensioners and beneficiaries, with the only tenants being spared being those who have paid all outstanding arrears and signed a tenancy agreement. The scheme has accused the former employees, most of whom are pensioners receiving monthly pensions, of causing a Sh154 million loss in revenue by staying in the property without paying rent. Additionally, some former employees allegedly sub-let the houses at higher rates without remitting rent to the scheme.

The properties in question consist of 17 blocks of flats, including 57 one-bedroom houses, 132 two-bedroom houses, and nine three-bedroom units, with a monthly rent of about Sh6,000 for two-bedroom units. The disputes over the property began in 2003 after the defunct Kenya Post and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) transferred parcels of land and property to Telposta Scheme for leasing and disposal to pay the defunct KPTC's pensioners. In 2008, the majority of the pensioners who did not manage to buy the houses moved to court to bar Telposta from evicting them, leading to legal battles that culminated in the recent judgment.

The pensioners also sought political intervention, including an audience with impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in March 2024. The High Court's final judgment affirms a 2022 ruling by another court, declaring Telposta Scheme the owner of the property and declining to compel it to transfer the houses to the pensioners without payment of the agreed sale amounts.