Wednesday, June 21, 2023 – Former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s refusal to retire and his continued holding onto the Jubilee Party has cost him some money.
This is after President William Ruto’s administration reduced retirement benefits allocated to retired Presidents by Ksh20 million in the supplementary budget for the financial year 2022/2023 ending on June 30.
Through supplementary estimates released by the National Treasury on Thursday, the administration of statutory benefits for retired presidents will receive Ksh832 million.
At the start of the financial year, retired presidents were allocated Ksh852 million by former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration.
The deduction will directly affect Uhuru, who is the only retired president in Kenya receiving statutory benefits.
According to the Kenyan Presidential Retirement Benefits Act No. 11 of 2003, if a former president passes on, the surviving spouse is entitled to 50 per cent of the pension.
However, with Uhuru adamant that he would not retire, his critics, mainly drawn from the government, pressured the current regime to withdraw his benefits.
Kenya Kwanza fanatics cited the Retirement Benefits Act, which dictates that a retired president will receive retirement packages six months after retirement.
In a rejoinder, embattled Jubilee vice chairperson, David Murathe, quoted Chapter 4 of the Constitution – The Bill of Rights – which offers all Kenyan citizens the freedom to make political choices which includes the right to form, or participate in forming a political party, participate in the activities of, or recruit members, and to campaign for its cause.
According to Murathe, Uhuru should enjoy the rights of a Kenyan citizen before being treated as a retired President.
The former President also declared that he would not give in to threats or coercion and would continue in his role as Jubilee’s party leader.
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