Former Members of Parliament who served between July 1, 1984, and January 1, 2001, will receive a revised pension package, ensuring a minimum sum of Ksh100,000 if a new bill is passed into law.
The Parliamentary Pensions Amendment Bill, 2023, which was read for the first time on Wednesday, July 5, proposed to amend the Parliamentary Pensions Act, Cap 196 to allow the former MPs to earn more while on retirement.
The new law was sponsored by Kitui Central Constituency MP Makali Mulu who stated that the principal objective of the bill was to raise the amount of pension due to former Members of Parliament to keep them out of financial hardship.
"In light of the fact that despite serving the nation, some former Members of Parliament are languishing in poverty and there is a need to take care of their welfare.
"The changes are in line with the recommendations of the Akiwumi Tribunal which was appointed in January 2009 by the Parliamentary Service Commission to review the terms and conditions of service of the Members and employees of Parliament," Mulu stated in his address to the National Assembly.
Proposed amendments stemmed from recommendations of a tribunal report submitted to the National Assembly on November 12, 2009. The report proposed that the five hundred former Members of Parliament be paid the equivalent of one thousand US dollars each as a living pension with effect from July 1, 2010.
Subsequently, the Parliamentary Service Commission adopted the report in June 2010 and resolved that any of the said former Members of Parliament earning a monthly pension of less than one hundred thousand shillings be paid a monthly pension of Ksh100,000.
"Clause 2 of the Bill provides the amendment to section 8 of the Act to provide that a former Member of Parliament who, having served in Parliament between July 1, 1984, and January 1, 2001, and is entitled to a pension, and whose monthly pension amounts to less than one hundred thousand shall be entitled to a monthly pension of one hundred thousand shillings.
"Statement on the delegation of legislative powers and limitation of fundamental rights and freedoms the bill does not delegate legislative powers and it does not limit rights and fundamental freedoms in the Bill of Rights," the statement by Mulu read in part.
The Kitui Central MP also observed that the bill does not require the Senate's input with regards to Article 110 (1) (a) of the Constitution as it does not affect the functions and powers of county governments under the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution.
As such, he advised that there was no need for the National Assembly Speaker Wetang'ula to seek Senate Speaker Amason Kingi's views on the bill.
The bill is currently in the first reading stage, which means that it has been introduced in Parliament and is being considered by the members.
The bill will need to be approved by the August House through the second and third readings and then receive assent from President William Ruto before it can become enacted into law.
