The approved Parliamentary Pensions Amendment Bill, will see Kenyans raise an additional Ksh181 million each month, through tax, to service payment of retired legislators.
On August 12, other public servants were up in arms demanding for a similar pay package, if President Uhuru Kenyatta assents to the bill that was approved and passed to him by the House.
The bill seeks to secure a Ksh100,000 monthly lifetime pay package for 300 MPs who retired between 1984 and 2001, to date.
Speaking to the media, retired and disgruntled civil servants revealed that they currently recieve pension packages ranging from Ksh2,000 to Ksh10,000.
"I worked for the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) for 33 years before retiring. I have received Ksh8,000 in pension, why should they get any more?" Rashid Hamisi posed.
This was the common theme as other public officers questioned the disparity.
To compound the issue, retirees are currently struggling with delayed pension payments across the country.
According to the National Treasury, the pension payout burden could go up by KSh 1.76 billion a year.
The National Government is currently spending Ksh119 billion to service retirees' pension and gratuity obligations.
In January 2020, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cautioned Kenya on the ticking time bomb in Kenya’s pension scheme as the gap between retirement dues and actual savings grew wider.
The government delayed the looming implosion by raising the retirement age for civil servants from 55 to 60 in 2009.
However, the country is now facing pension obligations that have ballooned to Ksh2.6 trillion — about 30% of GDP.
The pension burden has risen by an estimated 600% over the last 15 years with an estimated 20,000 civil servants projected to retire every year.
