Kibaki rejects MPs’ Sh9.3m sendoff pay

President Kibaki has declined to assent to the Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Bill but remained silent on the fate of a second Bill touching his own benefits.

A statement to newsrooms yesterday said the President had declined to assent to the first Bill.

Late Wednesday night Parliament passed two Bills – Presidential Retirement Benefits (Amendment) Bill 2012 and the Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Bill 2012.

The retirement benefits for the Prime Minister, his two Deputies, the Speaker, AG, MPs, and other state officials were covered under the latter Bill, which Mr Kibaki rejected.

“The President has directed the Attorney-General to redraft the same to ensure compliance with the Constitution and the law and to submit it and the accompanying explanatory memorandum to the Speaker with immediate effect,” read the statement.

The rejected Bill had given each MP in the Tenth Parliament a sendoff package of Sh9.3 million, a state funeral, diplomatic passport and lifelong state security among other benefits.

This means Mr Kibaki will pocket a lumpsum of Sh25.2 million for the two terms served. He will also receive a lifetime monthly pension of Sh560,000, an entertainment allowance of Sh280,000 and numerous other perks.

He will also be entitled to two housekeepers, two gardeners, two laundry persons, four house cleaners, office maintenance, maintenance expenses of vehicles and a diplomatic passport for him and the First Lady.

In addition, his local travel will be covered by taxpayers, and he will receive an international travel allowance of up to four trips a year not exceeding two weeks each. Mr Kibaki will also have access to the VIP lounge at all airports within Kenya.

Former President Moi will begin enjoying these new perks in the next fiscal year, save for the lump-sum pension. Currently, Mr Moi’s pension is calculated based on the Presidential Benefits Act of 2003, which has now been repealed.

Mr Moi receives Sh200,000 monthly as an entertainment allowance, a housing allowance of Sh300,000, two four-wheel drive vehicles renewable every three years, escort cars, Sh300,000 for electricity, a medical cover and a staff of 38 paid by taxpayers.

The biggest losers in yesterday’s move are PM Raila Odinga, VP Kalonzo Musyoka and Deputy Prime Ministers Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi and all MPs.

Other losers include House Speaker Kenneth Marende, Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and his deputy as well as Attorney- General Githu Muigai and Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces Gen Julius Karangi.

The MPs in the Tenth Parliament, which held its final sitting on Thursday afternoon, will now be forced to make do with the severance allowance of Sh3.72 million as passed in April 2012. The allowance is calculated at the rate of 31 per cent of total annual salary for every year in service.

But the Tenth Parliament could reconvene on Monday to rework the Bill if at least 111 (half of the MPs) of them sign a petition for the Speaker to recall Parliament.

Mr Marende is required by law to gazette such a special sitting for it to have legal backing. Even after that, the MPs would need a two-thirds majority to force the President to assent to the Bill.

At midnight on Monday, if the Bill will not have been assented to, it will lapse, meaning that a new version would have to be introduced in the next Parliament.

President Kibaki was reacting to mounting public pressure to reject the Bills which had been termed unconstitutional.

The chief executive of the National Council of NGOs, Mr George Adanya, yesterday welcomed the President’s move as “statesmanlike” and thanked him “for not failing Kenyans”.

Earlier in the day, lawyers had vowed to move to court if President Kibaki assented to the Bills. The Media Owners Association (MOA), the Anglican Church of Kenya, Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta had also opposed the perks.

Law Society of Kenya (LSK) chairman Eric Mutua said MPs lost the power to set salaries and remunerations with the promulgation of the new Constitution.

“It is unconstitutional,” Mr Mutua said.

The MOA had also condemned the move as extreme abuse of office. MOA chairman Kiprono Kittony said the MPs should have made reference to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission as required by the Constitution under Article 260.

Mr Kittony said Kenya’s public wage bill of Sh878 billion was already beyond the internationally recommended limit of 70 per cent of total annual revenues.

“The proposed increments are therefore unaffordable and unconstitutional; focus, however, should be on how to finance the large government and not how to take funds away from it,” warned Mr Kittony.

ACK Archbishop Eliud Wabukala said if assented to, the Bills would greatly harm the economy.