The Court of Appeal in Nairobi has thrown out a case filed by Standard Chartered Bank challenging Retirement Benefits Tribunal (RBT) orders to pay pensioners Sh30 billion.
The bank claimed it is likely to sink into a bottomless hole if it footed the pension of the 629 employees.
Nevertheless, Court of Appeal judges Patrick Kiage, Lydiah Achode and Weldon Korir dismissed the appeal and slapped the lender with costs.
They ruled there was no evidence to show that Standard Chartered was unfairly treated before both the RBT and the High Court.
“Having subjected the entire record to our own independent and exhaustive analysis and consideration, we are unable to find any basis for the appellants’ claim of violation of the provision of the Fair Administrative Action Act. We, instead, find as a fact that the proceedings before the Tribunal, taken as a whole, did meet the threshold for procedural fairness,” the bench headed by Justice Kiage said.
The bank had moved to the Court of Appeal following a loss before High Court Judge John Chigiti, who also dismissed the case and ordered it to bear the cost of the case.
Standard Chartered, alongside its trustees for pension fund and staff benefit were in court seeking to suspend a tribunal’s verdict that exposes it to a Sh30 billion settlement for its employees some who retired way back in 1975.
The retirement benefits tribunal ordered the lender to disclose to 629 former employees lump sum benefits and the actuarial methods to be used to re-calculate their retirement benefits.
Standard Chartered was ordered to factor in cost of living adjustments, housing allowance and future increases and payments. The tribunal ordered RBA to supervise the exercise and file a report within 60 days. The bank had moved to the Court of Appeal following a loss before High Court Judge John Chigiti who also dismissed the case and ordered it to bear the cost of the case. “
However, it argued that the tribunal overstretched its powers and allegedly included three computation methods that contradict each other.
