By Alphonse Shiundu and Oliver Mathenge

Nairobi, Kenya, January 09, 2010 – The spouses of the country’s top three leaders are set to earn huge allowances once the leaders retire from active politics.

A report by the Akilano Akiwumi tribunal proposes that the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act be changed to give “some benefits” to the First Lady so that “she can continue to discharge those duties that she did while the President was in office.”

If passed in Parliament, past, present and future First Ladies will enjoy the allowances.

New car of choice

The spouses of the Vice-President and Prime Minister will also be entitled to “a new car of choice” once their partners leave office — on condition that the car’s engine capacity must not exceed 3,000cc.

They will also receive Sh25,000 for fuel every month, and the cars will be replaced with new ones every four years.

The recommendations are contained in a secret report seen by the Nation. An 11-member team led by judge Akiwumi compiled the report after months of countrywide sittings.

The tribunal was also to review salaries of MPs and Cabinet ministers.

The report has no details of the First Lady’s perks, but it proposes to amend the law to include her in the President’s retirement package.

The proposal came from the coalition government’s submission to the tribunal as made by Head of Public Service, Mr Francis Muthaura during the tribunal’s sittings at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

Similarly, each spouse will have a security officer and a personal assistant all at the expense of the taxpayer.

The VP’s and PM’s wives were recently awarded a monthly stipend of Sh400,000, but Mrs Odinga declined while Mrs Musyoka accepted it, saying, she would donate it to charity.

Currently, First Lady Lucy Kibaki, the VP’s wife, Mrs Pauline Musyoka and the PM’s wife, Mrs Ida Odinga, have special officers from the official press units of their husbands to report their activities.

They also have personal assistants to help manage the responsibilities associated with the duties of their husbands.

They host official parties and have to accompany their spouses on foreign trips, with the taxpayer often footing the bills.

At the same time, future MPs may have the opportunity to take their children to work, if recommendations by the Akwiwumi tribunal are adopted.

The report by the tribunal proposes that Parliament should add to its 2008-2018 strategic plan, the creation of baby-sitting centers. In addition, according to the tribunal’s report, future MPs may no longer have to doze off in the Chamber with the proposed introduction of rooms for rest.

The tribunal has also recommended that Parliament should have its own hospital, nursing cubicles and a guest centre. All this, the report says are recommended in line with “experiences of the study tours made by the Tribunal to South Africa and Uganda”.

The tribunal has recommended that a new site for construction of the new National Assembly to accommodate a new chamber, rooms for offices, parking space, dinning hall, rest rooms, and reading rooms be sought.

For the constituencies, the report recommends that every constituency has a convenient office and where applicable, computers and websites should be provided.

The tribunal also proposes that the Parliamentary Service Commission increases the momentum of installing use of ICT in its operations.

On operations of Parliament, the tribunal has proposed that it introduces electronic voting in the Chamber. The report says the current research unit with 10 researchers is inadequate given that each of the 222 MPs should have a research assistant.

The revamping of the research unit will help MPs have quality contributions and debates not only in Parliament, but also at the constituency level.

The Tribunal has also proposed the building of a new library equipped with modern technology. The report says that the Parliamentary Service Commission has bought a plot for construction of an office block, set a process to rehabilitate the chamber and its drawings are ready and in the process of tendering.

Source: The Daily Nation, January 8, 2010

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