Treasury CS limits beneficiaries of hefty perks

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has written to the National Assembly insisting that only top officials who served in the coalition government should be paid retirement perks for the rest of their lives.

Rotich said in a letter to the House that the bill to set the retirement benefits for the retired State officers should only take on board Prime Minister Raila Odinga, former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, former Speaker Kenneth Marende and former Chief Justice Evan Gicheru.

Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Bill, 2013, sponsored by ODM's National Chairman John Mbadi (Suba) has been in the pipeline for the past two years. Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Mutava Musyimi (Mbeere South) asked Speaker Justin Muturi to slot the bill for debate this afternoon so that the MPs can discuss it before the House adjourns.

The bill also seeks to set the retirement perks for the Deputy President William Ruto, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi and his counterpart at the Senate Ekwee Ethuro.

Rotich was forced to intervene after it emerged that MPs wanted to amend the law to make sure every retiree who has served as vice president, speaker or prime minister since independence is paid pension.

"The intention appears to be to pay all such retired persons since independence," said Rotich, as he insisted that doing so would be a burden to the taxpayer due the large number of retired vice presidents Kenya has had.

"The date limitation of January 15, 2008, was to ensure only immediate past holders of these posts get the benefits in order to control expenditures," said the Cabinet Secretary.

Miss out

The decision, which was conveyed to the House early Wednesda,y means former vice presidents Moody Awori and Musalia Mudavadi, and former Speaker Francis ole Kaparo will miss out on the Government millions, because they served before the coalition government was set up.

The MPs had argued that it will be unconstitutional and discriminatory to limit the date to those who served in the coalition government, but Rotich says that argument is flawed.

"We do not concur with the statement about the current clause being unconstitutional or discriminatory. It is important that the National Treasury calls for prudence in the management of retirement benefits schemes in the public service in order to manage pension expenditures and ensure sustainability," said Rotich.