MPs award themselves Sh9m send off perk

By Peter Opiyo

NAIROBI; KENYA: MPs engaged in yet another nocturnal conspiracy to hand themselves hefty gratuity payment of Sh9.3 million each.

They also lavished President Kibaki with a sweetheart retirement deal handing him Sh12.6 million lump sum pay. On top of this, the President would get Sh560,000 monthly pension, an entertainment allowance of Sh105,000 and Sh161,000 house allowance. The President earns a monthly basic salary of Sh700,000.

Also to benefit are Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Speaker Kenneth Marende and his Deputy Farah Maalim, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his deputies Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi.

In the gravy train, are heads of Security Forces, the Attorney General, the Chief Justice and his Deputy and Secretary to the Cabinet.

Worryingly, the MPs reinstated the Sh9.3 gratuity payment rejected by President Kibaki just less than a month ago. The gratuity had been contained in amendments to the Finance Bill 2012 but the MPs sneaked it in another Bill, The Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Bill 2012.

All eyes would now be on the President as the deal can only be executed if he assents to the two Bills- Presidential Retirement Benefits (Amendment) Bill and The Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Bill 2012.

Calculated to cover all the 224 MPs, the taxpayer would cough at least Sh2 billion to pamper the legislators.

Coming with the package is one armed security guard, diplomatic passport for both the MP and the spouse, access to VIP lounge at all airports within Kenya and a maintenance expense for all.

Finance Minister Robinson Githae sneaked the amendments on Wednesday night to hand the MPs the package. Curiously, the amendments were not printed on the Order Paper and was only hinted at by Githae on the floor and endorsed without any reference to their contents.

The package is arrived at by calculating at 31 per cent of the MPs’ basic pay of Sh200,000 per month from the time they were sworn in on January 15, 2008 up to August 26, 2010.

Thereafter, they would benefit from 31 per cent of their gross pay of Sh851,000 as severance pay from August 27, 2010 until January 14, 2013 when their term expires.

Also to benefit from the pay are the retired Speakers of the National Assembly and Senate and their deputies, the Prime Minister, the Vice President, the Deputy Prime Ministers, Chief Justice and their Deputies, Chief of Defence Force, Director of National Intelligence Service, Secretary to the Cabinet, Inspector General of Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

According to the Bill, the retired Speakers, Deputy Presidents and Chief Justice would get a monthly pension of 80 per cent of their monthly salary, a monthly house allowance of 15 per cent of their salary and lump-sum pay equal to one and a half years’ salary payable for each term served.

This means the Speaker and VP who earn a monthly basic pay of Sh300,000 would get a monthly pension of Sh240,000, a house allowance of Sh45,000 and a lump sum of Sh5.4 million each.

PM and his deputies, deputy Speakers, Deputy CJ, the Attorney General, Chief of Defence Forces, Secretary to the Cabinet, Inspector General of Police, Director of NIS and DPP would have their monthly pension calculated at 35 per cent of their monthly pay, a house allowance of 15 per cent of their salary and a lump-sum payment equal to one year’s pay for every term served.

Also going to the President would be a fuel allowance of Sh105,000 and Sh161,000 as electricity, water and telephone allowance.

The President would also enjoy a full medical and hospital cover, both locally and abroad. This would also cover the spouse and his children aged below 18 years.

According to the The Presidential Retirement Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2012, passed by Parliament, retired Presidents would also be entitled to two personal assistants, four secretaries, four messengers and four drivers.

The retired President would also be entitled to a maximum of six guards for personal escort and a maximum of six security guards stationed both at his urban and rural residences. Two cooks, two housekeepers, two gardeners, two laundry persons and four house cleaners.

Also in the Presidential package to be footed by the taxpayer are office maintenance, maintenance expenses of vehicles, diplomatic passport, local travel, international travel allowance of up to four trips in a year, not exceeding two weeks each. The retired President would also be allowed access to VIP lounge to all airports within Kenya.