While many Kenyans languish in absolute poverty and count loses due to COVID-19, the Parliament is set to reward MPs who retired between 1984 and 2001 a monthly pension of Sh100,000 for life.
The House will tomorrow vote on the Parliamentary Pensions (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks to impose a minimum pension for lawmakers who served during the 17 years.
In tomorrow’s vote, MPs are also expected to approve amendments the Parliamentary Pensions Act, 2002 to remove a requirement that only those who served for two terms during the 17 years be entitled to lifelong pension.
This is an additional burden to taxpayers as more than 375 former MPs will see their monthly pension rise to above Sh100,000 from the current low of Sh33,000.
The Parliamentary Budget Office has estimated that if the Bill is enacted into law, the cost of sustaining the former MPs will rise to Sh15.075 million per month or Sh180.9 million annually.
If the vote passes, which is more likely to happen, the payout will be backdated to July 2010.
“That the Bill be amended by deleting clause 2 and substituting therefor the following new clause-in sub-section (1) (b) by deleting the word ‘two’ and substituting therefore the word ‘one’,” the committee said in new amendments to the Bill in line with recommendations of the Akilano Akiwumi Task Force.
According to Parliamentary Pensions Act, which came into force in 2002, only MPs who serve for two terms or more are entitled to a monthly pension of at least Sh125, 000 for the rest of their lives.
For MPs who lose after serving one term, they are refunded the equivalent of three times their monthly pension deductions plus 15 per cent interest for every year served.But the law did not cover lawmakers who retired before 2002.
80 former MPs, who have been excluded from pension, will also receive the payout. Of the 290 former lawmakers, 130 of them are dead and their dependents will be entitled to about half of the monthly pay.
Last year, the Parliamentary Budget Office said the 290 former MPs will receive a lump sum of Sh1.76 billion or an average of Sh6 million each.
The remaining 80 will get a single payment of Sh11.9 million to date and the Sh100,000 monthly for life.
Once MPs approve the changes, the Bill will be forwarded to the President for assent into law, committing taxpayers to the pension payments.
