MPs agree Sh9.3m send off pay

Finance minister Njeru Githae conspired with MPs in a twilight deal on Wednesday that saw each of the lawmakers get a colossal Sh9.3 million in a golden handshake.

The MPs also approved that each of them gets an armed bodyguard, a diplomatic passport for the retiree and his wife and unlimited access to the executive lounge for Very Important Person in all the airports within Kenya.

The MPs also want to be accorded a state funeral upon death.

The current ministers in the coalition Cabinet of 42 ministers and 55 assistant ministers will all get a driver paid for by the State. They will also enjoy the perks that MPs have approved.

The lawmakers, in the night deal, quietly amended the law to be paid gratuity at 31 per cent of their Sh200,000 basic monthly salary for every year in service, until August 27, 2010 when the Constitution was promulgated.

After that date, until the end of their term, they approved that the 31 per cent should be on their gross pay of Sh851,000 per month for every year worked.

Kenya’s two-year-old Constitution makes it irregular for any State Officer, to be exempted from paying tax. The MPs were previously exempt, and have been holding onto a clause in the National Assembly Remuneration Act not to have their colossal perks taxed. Their basic salary is Sh200,000, their allowances total Sh651,000.

In the secret changes to the Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Bill, 2012, the MPs deleted that clause, so that they raise their taxable remuneration to Sh851,000.

This is the second time that the MPs have presented this quest for huge perks to President Kibaki for assent. When they did so through the Finance Bill in October, the President took the unprecedented step and rejected the move terming the Sh6 million increase in send-off perks as unaffordable and unconstitutional.

The MPs as at now are entitled to Sh3.72 million send-off package, but this too is contested in court, and a ruling is being awaited.