Ex-MP now wants monthly pension for independence lawmakers

A former MP has asked President Uhuru Kenyatta not to assent to the Parliamentary Pensions (Amendment) Bill, 2019 until it also awards MPs who served in the first and second assemblies.

Speaking to the Nation, former Ntonyiri MP Joseph Muturia said the National Assembly pension scheme has ignored those who did the groundwork for the legislature.

The National Assembly last week passed the bill that provides a Sh100,000 monthly pension for MPs who served between 1984 and 2001.

“MPs who served in the independence Parliament have been treated like bulldozers that remove obstacles and open up a road, but when it is tarmacked they are not allowed to drive on it. The President should sympathise with those who cleared the way for us,” Mr Muturia said.

"Suffering"

The former legislator also said most of those who served in the independence Parliament were suffering due to medical conditions and old age.

“I am lucky to be among former MPs who receive a pension of Sh100,000 because I served until 1992. My colleagues who were there between 1963 and 1984 should also be considered. Their plight should be addressed because we fought for independence and laid the foundation for the legislature,” he said.

Mr Muturia further argued those who served as MPs in the early years do not have access to the plethora of allowances and benefits available to current parliamentarians.

“We were earning Sh6,000 per month. There were no fraudulent mileage claims because it would amount to criminal charges. Some MPs lost their seats for making false mileage claims. We had no mortgages or car loans now available to MPs,” he recounts.

He said about 150 independence MPs were alive, down from the 500 when they started the push for the pension in early 2000.