The National Treasury will stop funding the office of the late former President Mwai Kibaki, to save hundreds of millions of shillings the former Head of State was receiving as retirement benefits.
Mr Kibaki, who died in April, had been receiving retirement benefits which include a fleet of luxury cars, a fully-furnished office and 40 member staff since retiring in 2013.
The office will now cease to be and only workers on secondment will be reabsorbed in ministries and other State Agencies.
The former Head of State received annual pension of Sh34.2 million or Sh2.85 monthly which is equivalent to the salary and benefits of senior chief executives of State-owned firms.
The running of Kibaki office in the year ended June was Sh98.6 million and the Treasury had allocated Sh101.1million for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
The office will be shut within the next three months in a withdrawal similar to what happened to the office of President Daniel arap Moi who died on February 4 2020.
Running of Moi and Kibaki offices cost taxpayers Sh243 million in the year to June 2020, with compensation to their staff, excluding those seconded from the government, costing Sh126 million.
Shutting of the two offices means that Kenya will for the first not budget to cater for a retired president since 2002 when Moi left office.
The Treasury omitted allocations for President Uhuru Kenyatta’s retirement office and staff from the budget for the year starting July, because Uhuru still wants to remain active in party politics.
An estimated Sh100 million allocation was to cater for a fully furnished office for the retired president, his aides, limousines and allowances.
But the Treasury does not want to breach sections of the law that bars a retired president from holding office in a political party six months after retirement.
President Kenyatta was in February offered a five-year term as head of Jubilee Party and is also serving as the chairman of Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition.
Treasury will however provide a retired president with a monthly pension of Sh691,200 irrespective of political affiliation.
In 2015, a High Court ruling stopped the government from paying allowances worth millions of shillings to retired presidents after finding that they were not necessary.
But the Attorney-General successfully appealed the ruling, allowing Moi and Kibaki to continue enjoying the excess retirement payments.
Sections of the law that the court nullified entitled retired presidents to a Sh300,000 monthly house allowance, fuel (Sh200,000), entertainment (Sh200,000) and utilities (Sh300,000).
The law also entitled Moi and Kibaki to two personal assistants, four secretaries, four messengers, four drivers and bodyguards, pushing the office and home workers to 34 and were paid from public coffers.
Retired presidents are also entitled to four cars that are replaced every four years.
