The leader of the majority in the National Assembly Aden Duale took on minority leader, John Mbadi, over a controversial bill he had sponsored that aimed to raise pensions for ex-MPs who served between 1984-2001.
A report by the Business Daily on Thursday, November 14, indicated that Duale had promised to move a motion in opposition to the bill less than two days after the National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning Committee chaired by Kipkelion East MP Joseph Limo supported it.
"I will be moving a motion to withdraw the bill. This is because the committee did not take into account the Treasury's view approving the privately sponsored bill," Duale was quoted.
The bill, if passed by the national assembly, will pave way for the 290 former MPs to have their pension entitlement raised to a minimum Ksh100,000 per month for life, up from the current average of Ksh33,000.
The publication further reported that of the 290 former lawmakers, 130 of them are dead, leaving their dependents who are entitled to about half of the monthly payment.
The committee further recommended that the monthly payout be backdated to January 2010, meaning that a lump sum of Ksh100,000 monthly for 119 months to date would be remitted to the former lawmakers.
Duale took issue with the recommendations and clarified that the reason for his opposition to the bill was because it would have long-term financial implications on the government.
Duale also took issue with the Budgets and Appropriations Committee for letting the bill sail through despite some requirements that he found to be contentious.
"The bill should have been considered by the Budgets and the Appropriations Committee before it was introduced to the house for deliberation," he stated.
