Ruto, Odinga and Musyoka to draw benefits through State House

DP William Ruto with former PM Raila Odinga and former vice-president Kalonzo Musyoka at a past event. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By EDWIN MUTAI More by this Author

State House will now administer retirement benefits of Deputy President William Ruto, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, taking over the role from the Treasury.

This follows the new changes to the retirement law that will now shift the mandate to the Office of the President.

“Section 13 of the Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Act, 2015 is amended…the benefits granted to an entitled person, or his or her surviving spouse, as the case may be, under this Act, shall be administered—in the case of a retired Deputy President, retired Prime Minister or retired Vice President, by the office of the President, and shall be provided for in the estimates of the national government referred to in Article 221(1) of the Constitution,” the Finance Act, 2022 states.

The office of the President will, however, not be responsible for payment of the monthly pension equivalent to 80 percent of Dr Ruto, Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka’s last salary, a lumpsum of five times their last pay and gratuity which will be processed and paid through the Treasury.

Dr Ruto currently earns a monthly salary of Sh1.4 million, meaning he will earn a monthly pension of Sh1.12 million in retirement.

“For the avoidance of doubt, subsection (1) shall not apply to the pension, lump-sum payment upon retirement, and gratuity provided for in this Act,” reads the Finance Act, 2022.

The law previously required a retired Deputy President, Prime Minister and Vice President or their surviving spouses to submit estimates of all expenditure to the Treasury Cabinet Secretary for approval at least five months before the commencement of each financial year.

This requirement has now been shifted to the office of the President which will compute the benefits due to an entitled person and submit them to the Treasury for budgeting annually.

A part pension, a retired Deputy President, Prime Minister and Vice President is entitled to a saloon car and a four-wheel-drive vehicle, both of which come with drivers and fuel allowance equivalent to 15 per cent of the monthly pay of the serving Deputy President.

The new law was assented to by President Kenyatta last week.

emutai@ke.nationmedia.com