Senate team approves Sh1.5m lump sum payment, Sh30,000 monthly stipend for councillors

What you need to know:

  • Senate Labour Committee recommended that the more than 12,000 former councillors to be paid a Sh1.5 million lump-sum payment.
  • The committee also approved a Sh30,000 monthly stipend for the former officials to improve their lives.
  • The committee's report will be subjected to a debate and vote in the Senate.

Former councillors are on course to receive a Sh1.5 million lump-sum payment and a S30,000 monthly stipend each if Senate approves a recommendation passed by the Senate Labour Committee.

The committee said the more than 12,000 former officials of the defunct local councils deserved to be paid after suffering for long without pension.

Committee chairman Stewart Madzayo on Tuesday tabled the report in the Senate after listening to the grievances of the former councillors, who appeared before it last year after a successful petition.

LUMP SUM PAYMENT

“A one-off honorarium of Sh1.5 million should be paid to former councillors. This is based on the fact that they did not receive fixed emoluments and experienced disparities in accessibility and terms and conditions of pension schemes over the years,” said the committee.

Although the report will be subjected to a debate and vote in the Senate, its recommendations represent a step forward for the former officials in their quest to get a monthly pay.

When they appeared before the committee, the councillors said they were leading miserable lives because they did not have a pension to sustain them.

MONTHLY STIPEND

The committee said their request for Sh30,000 in monthly pay was recommendable in order to help them improve their lives.

“A monthly pension of at least Sh30,000 should be paid to former councillors. This is based on the fact that they did not receive fixed emoluments and experienced disparities in accessibility and terms and conditions of pension schemes over the years which would make it difficult to fairly and equitably determine each councillor’s rightful benefits retrospectively,” the report adds.

The committee, however, denied the councillors State-sponsored health insurance, saying there was no universal health scheme that did not require individual contributions.