PHOTO | PPS | FILE Mr Kibaki at a farewell party hosted by public servants.
PPS
In Summary
- It is fine to give former Presidents, Vice-Presidents and the former Prime Minister a decent and befitting retirement.
The debate over how much the country should
spend on an office for former President Kibaki in his retirement is one
that should not arise at all.
Mr Kibaki is already exceedingly well taken care of. According to the terms of a law passed in the final days of the last Parliament, Mr Kibaki will be paid a pension of 80 per cent of his final basic salary of Sh700,000 for the rest of his life, which translates to a monthly package of Sh560,000.
He also receives an entertainment allowance assessed at 40 per cent of his salary which translates to Sh280,000.
Like former President Moi, Mr Kibaki can count on a whole host of members of staff, security personnel and a fleet of vehicles all paid for by taxpayers.
By any standards, these are very generous terms. It is, therefore, insensitive and unfair to ask wananchi to bear the burden of spending many more hundreds of millions to secure more office space for Mr Kibaki.
It is worth remembering that the original
legislation on President Moi was made specifically with him in mind and
was designed to coax him into retirement.
Now the country is accumulating numerous retirees. The current president, for example, will retire at a fairly young age, whether he serves one or two terms.
It is unacceptable that the Treasury should be raided inordinately to guarantee the comfort of ex-presidents.
It is fine to give former Presidents, Vice-Presidents and the former Prime Minister a decent and befitting retirement.
But operatives in the OP should not go too far.
The country is already facing numerous financial demands and public
sector workers are asking for ever higher pay.
Development initiatives that are needed to keep
the country competitive such as revamping the railway are the issues
that should command greater resources at this time.
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