President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has proposed a retirement pension for governors, Speakers and Members of County Assemblies.
UDA’s National Governing Council (NGC), in its resolutions on Monday, instructed National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa and his Senate counterpart Aaron Cheruiyot to draft a Bill that will anchor the pension scheme.
President Ruto said the scheme is meant to protect county leaders from plunging into poverty when they leave office. The proposal, however, means additional tax burden to sustain the flashy lifestyles of a growing list of politicians who get hefty pensions.
UDA party leader President William Ruto, flanked by Deputy President Prof Kindiki Kithure and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi, arrives for a UDA National Governing Council meeting at State House, Nairobi.
Photo credit: PSC
Some high-profile politicians have taken up public service jobs after serving their two terms as governors, while others have gone on to serve as senators.
Article 77 (3) of the Constitution says, “A retired State officer who is receiving a pension from public funds shall not hold more than two concurrent remunerative positions as chairperson, director or employee of a company owned or controlled by the State; or a State organ”.
“We agree with you, we also need to implement the suggestions on pension. We want governors, MCAs and Speaker of County assemblies to have a pension when they do their two terms. Many leaders when they get out of office, they go straight into squalor because the job we have is sometimes thankless,” said President Ruto.
“We must secure that so that people who have secured leadership positions do not become a disgrace to themselves and to the community they represent. I want to assure you that the instructions of this council to the executive and legislature is that we expedite that exercise.”
The NGC held at State House resolved that the scheme be made contributory like that of Members of Parliament (MPs).
“By the next budget, we must implement the pensions for our county assembly speakers, governors and MCAs,” said the President.
According to the Parliamentary Service Scheme, an MP who has served for one term is entitled to a Sh5.8 million send-off package, while those who have served for at least two terms should get Sh7.8 million send-off package on top of Sh127, 000 monthly lifetime stipend.
The monthly package for members who have served for three terms is capped at Sh191,000 in addition to the one-off payment of Sh7.8 million.
There has been sustained push for governors to benefit from pension. Some of the attempts have, however, been defeated.
In 2021, the County Assemblies Forum proposed County State Officers Pension Scheme Act, 2021, which sought to hand governors a hefty sendoff package.
In the proposal that did not sail through, governors who served for two terms were to receive as much as Sh11.1 million as a lump sum payment and a lifetime monthly pension of Sh739,200.
It also proposed the establishment of the County State Officers Retirement Benefits Scheme, which will be responsible for developing, determining and awarding the benefits.
Members of County assembly follow proceedings during the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) meeting at KICC, Nairobi on February 19, 2025.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
Under the recommendations, a retired governor who served two terms was to receive a lump sum payment calculated as a total of their one-year basic salary.
The governors were also to receive a lifetime basic monthly payment equivalent to 80 percent of their last monthly salary. And should a governor die after leaving office, the benefits were to be paid to their beneficiaries for life.
A retired deputy governor was also to be paid a lump sum amount equal to a year’s basic salary for each term served and a lifetime monthly pension equal to 60 percent of the basic salary, terms similar to what was to be paid to retired county assembly speakers.
The President also assured MCAs that their budget will be separated from that of the county executive so as to hand them autonomy.
“In the next budget cycle, we will now separate the budget of the county assembly from the county executive so that the county assembly can become independent. It is just by operation of law. If it was possible for us to do it faster, we would have done it, but you know those processes take long,” said Dr Ruto.
“We will make sure we implement autonomy of our assemblies as per our commitment, because we have the majority in both houses.”
He also instructed the two Houses of Parliament to fast-track the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report so as to anchor the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) in the Constitution.
