Kibaki gets Sh36m more retirement benefits from Treasury’s mini-budget

Former president Mwai Kibaki has been awarded additional pension benefits worth millions of shillings, underlying the heavy burden taxpayers are increasingly being made to carry to keep ex-heads of state happy in retirement.

The spending on Mr Kibaki’s office has increased by 54 per cent or Sh36.3 million above the Sh66.9 million the Treasury had set aside for the retired president in the current financial year, according to the mini-budget documents tabled in Parliament two weeks ago.

The huge increase in Mr Kibaki’s office budget is in addition to the retired president’s personal and medical allowances of Sh58.82 million in the current year and a generous pension he has enjoyed since leaving office in April 2013.

Mr Kibaki and his predecessor Daniel arap Moi are in the current financial year sharing a Sh64 million pension budget that is a 64 per cent increment from the last financial year.

Treasury documents suggest that Mr Kibaki will get temporary staff, who will set taxpayers back Sh25.5 million for the few months to the end of the financial year. Previously, the former president did not have a budget for temporary staff.

Treasury secretary Henry Rotich reckons the temporary staff are required pending the full implementation of some provisions of a new law that covers Mr Kibaki’s benefits.

READ: Moi, Kibaki still on hefty perks despite court ruling.

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Parliamentary documents also show that Mr Kibaki’s publicity budget has increased tenfold to Sh660,200 from the Sh60,200 it got in the June 2015 budget – despite austerity measures the Jubilee government has announced seeking to cut non-essential expenditures like printing and advertising.

The pay for the retired president’s permanent staff is also up by Sh10.6 million to Sh75 million. Mr Kibaki assented to the Presidential Retirement Benefits (Amendment) Bill of 2012 that entitled him to the generous retirement perks — effectively awarding himself millions of shillings worth of benefits amid protests from civil society groups.

The law entitles the retired career politician to two personal assistants, four secretaries, four messengers, four drivers and bodyguards. Mr Moi enjoys similar perks.

Two former presidents

The two former presidents enjoy a monthly pension of Sh560,000 each, house allowance (Sh379,500), fuel allowance (Sh247,500), entertainment perks (Sh247,500) and Sh379,500 for utilities like water and electricity.

Taxpayers also cater for workers at Mr Kibaki’s office in Nairobi’s Nyari Estate that was bought at Sh250 million three years ago besides staff at his Muthaiga residence. The mini-budget shows that the former president’s budget for ‘hospitality supplies’ is also up by Sh600,000 to Sh2.3 million.

Mr Kibaki last December set up a public policy think-tank and library to promote his legacy as Kenya’s third head of state. The Mwai Kibaki Institute — styled along the American presidential centres and libraries — seeks to advance the ideals of the former president’s leadership.

The library seeks to conduct research and develop local solutions in areas such as agriculture, energy, water and education — issues he championed during his decade-long presidency.

At Sh58.8 million, Mr Kibaki’s personal and medical allowances for the current fiscal year will outstrip the combined annual salaries of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto will cumulatively earn Sh36.63 million in salaries in the current financial year, up from Sh33.52 million the previous year.

President Kenyatta is entitled to a salary range of between Sh1.23 million and Sh1.65 million monthly, meaning his allowable maximum annual pay is Sh19.8 million, according to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

Mr Ruto is entitled to a monthly pay of between Sh1.05 million and Sh1.4 million — effectively capping his annual pay at Sh16.8 million.The higher retirement perks are being paid even as the Treasury and President Kenyatta continue to insist that an austerity programme is underway to free up cash for development and provision of basic services such as security, health and education.

Recurrent expenditure

A steep rise in recurrent expenditure at a time the tax revenues are trailing targets has recently caused a biting cash crunch in government.

The National Taxpayers Association, a lobby group, has opposed the hefty increments in Mr Kibaki’s retirement package, saying the decision amounted to increasing the taxpayers’ burden without any corresponding socio-economic benefits.

The High Court has in the past attempted to block the hefty monthly payouts to the two retired presidents through its finding that they are an unnecessary burden to the taxpayers.

The courts last year declared the amended presidential retirement benefits law null and void after the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights filed a petition citing its enactment without input by the SRC as required by the Constitution.

The SRC is the agency with the constitutional mandate to fix salaries, allowances and retirement benefits of all State officers. Attorney-General Githu Muigai challenged the High Court’s judgment on behalf of the government, a situation that has seen the two retired presidents continue enjoying the hefty perks pending the outcome of the appeal.

The amended presidential retirement benefits law gave Mr Kibaki a lumpsum payout of Sh25.2 million, a monthly pension of Sh560,000 and an annual in-patient medical cover of up to Sh21.2 million.

The retirement benefits have come under sharp criticism, given the country is grappling with a bloated public wage bill amounting to over Sh500 billion per year even as millions of citizens continue to live in abject poverty.