Kenya: High Court Upholds Pension Tribunal Rules, Orders Fresh Review of Sh709mn Costs

What the report says

Nairobi’s High Court has upheld the legal validity of the rules and costs framework used by Kenya’s Retirement Benefits Appeals Tribunal, while ordering a new review of a large costs award against Standard Chartered Bank Kenya. The ruling, reported by Capital FM and carried by AllAfrica, was delivered by Justice Gregory Mutai in a dispute tied to a long-running pension case involving 629 former employees and questions over pension underpayments and a surplus refund.

The bank had argued that the tribunal’s rules were invalid because the Retirement Benefits Act assigned rule-making authority to the Chief Justice, while the relevant legal notice was signed by a then finance minister. The court rejected that challenge, saying the bank did not show the rules were unlawfully made. It also found that the tribunal’s costs schedule did not conflict with the Act.

At the same time, the judge concluded that the process used to reach the Sh709.19 million costs award breached Standard Chartered’s constitutional rights. The court set aside that costs component from the tribunal’s June 18, 2025 decree and directed the tribunal to reassess the amount after giving the bank a chance to contest the calculation and claim.

The decision leaves the underlying pension-related awards in place, but sends the disputed costs figure back for a fairer review. More broadly, the case matters because it preserves a key tribunal rules framework that has reportedly been used for many years, while underscoring the need for procedural fairness in large financial awards.