Githae should get his priorities right: Kibaki doesn’t need such a big pension

 

 

By MURITHI MUTIGA
Posted  Saturday, January 5  2013 at  18:26

In Summary

• Reject: Mr Kibaki must not assent to this new law which will put a symbolic stain on his legacy

 A few months ago, Justice John Mwera adjudicated on a matter in which one party wanted to be paid Sh200 million in a libel case.

He awarded Sh6 million instead and dismissed the litigant with these words: “A successful party in a defamation case should not approach the court with a basket as if they are going to a gold mine. It should not be so.”

Mr Justice Mwera was making a legal point, but his example might be stretched to answer the question of what motivates Kenyans to enter politics.

For the vast majority of MPs, Parliament is a gold mine where they go with a basket to rob wananchi.

That can be the only explanation for the shamelessness with which at least once a year MPs devise schemes to fatten their wallets at taxpayers’ expense – a duty free imported car there, an expanded mortgage scheme here, a raised salary there; the list never ends.

The problem is that wananchi have been punished for so long that they have simply become numb. That is why there is not sufficient outrage at the latest plot to rob the public: a massively enhanced retirement package for the President, Prime Minister, Vice- President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and several other officials, including the head of the military, the Attorney-General, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

Under the new scheme, Kenyans will pay these officials a handsome salary for the rest of their natural lives. Mr Kibaki will be paid a lump sum take home package of Sh12.6 million for each term served. He will also receive a monthly pension of Sh560,000, an entertainment allowance of Sh280,000 and numerous other perks.

There is nothing wrong with paying a retired President a pension. Kenya has in the last decade joined the club of African presidents where a former head of state can live in relative peace after exiting the highest office.

Former President Moi is retired on extremely generous terms, thanks to the Presidential Benefits Act of 2003. He receives Sh200,000 monthly as an entertainment allowance, a housing allowance of Sh300,000, two four-wheel drive vehicles renewable every three years, escort cars, Sh300,000 for electricity, a medical cover and a staff of 38 paid for by taxpayers.

Why won’t these terms do for Mr Kibaki? Is the huge adjustment necessary? What explains the need to pay him Sh25.2 million lump sum?

Finance minister Njeru Githae says the rates needed to be adjusted for inflation. That may well be so, but, in a poor country with so many needs, this ranks nowhere on the list of priorities.

The other issue is whether we should be making laws to cater for the payment of occupants of offices such as Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister which don’t exist under the Constitution.

Besides, there surely exist independent pension plans for public servants such as the Chief of Defence Forces and the Attorney-General.

Ultimately, this is a question of the attitude people have towards public office. The major difference between Kenya and more developed countries in the West is that when people want to make money in Sweden, the UK, America, they go into the private sector.

When they want to serve the people, they go into politics – often at great financial cost. One of the most revealing profiles of President Obama’s early career indicated that there were strains in his marriage because he was earning very little as a Congressman, and Michelle Obama had to support the family from her work in private practice.

The repeated attempts by MPs to rob taxpayers offer an explanation as to why we remain poor and underdeveloped.

Mr Kibaki must not assent to this new law which would put a symbolic stain on his legacy.