President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed into law a Bill that offers retired Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and Kalpana Rawal, who served as his deputy, more than Sh1 million in monthly retirement perks.
The new retirements benefits law places the former Judiciary bosses in the exclusive club of retired State officers taking home millions of shillings for old age comfort and whose membership includes former Presidents Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki.
Under the Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Amendment Bill, 2016 that Mr Kenyatta signed into law yesterday, Dr Mutunga’s golden retirement nest is feathered by a monthly pension equivalent of 80 per cent of his last salary, a lump sum five times his last pay or about Sh6 million, security, medical insurance and a diplomatic passport for himself and spouse.
READ: Review of super earners’ pay starts
The former top judge is also entitled to a saloon car and a four-wheel drive vehicle, both of which will come with drivers and fuel allowance equivalent to 15 per cent of the monthly pay of the serving CJ. The vehicles will be replaced after every four years.
Taxpayers will also cater for maintenance of the vehicles at dealerships besides offering Dr Mutunga one personal assistant, one secretary, one housekeeper, one senior support staff, one gardener and one cleaner at the State’s expense.
The fuel allowance and pension guarantees Dr Mutunga a lifetime monthly pay of about Sh1.25 million — almost equivalent to the basic salary of the Deputy President.
The basic salary of the Chief Justice currently stands at Sh1,380,351 excluding other perks, according to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
Ms Rawal will also take home pension equivalent of 80 per cent of her last salary, government vehicles, medical insurance and diplomatic passports.
The DCJ earned Sh1.23 million monthly, meaning she is set to receive a lump sum five times his last pay or about Sh4.9 million.
Justice Rawal left the Judiciary in acrimonious circumstances having lost a bruising battle to remain on the bench until she is 74 years.
It is the legal battle that saw Dr Mutunga deliver his last ruling as the Supreme Court President and judge, effectively sending his deputy on retirement. The Constitution requires Judges to retire at 70.
Dr Mutunga retired on June 16, 2016 after serving for five years and was replaced by Justice David Maraga.
Lavish benefits
Dr Mutunga announced in June last year that he will be taking up a new job as Commonwealth Special Envoy to Maldives, where he was expected to aid in the process of constitutional and political transition.
Critics reckon that the lavish benefits offered to former top State officers are excessive given that most are wealthy individuals holding vast amounts of property.
After leaving office, Dr Mutunga publicly declared he was worth Sh80 million. He added that he earned a net salary of Sh50 million in the five years served as chief justice.
Retirement benefits of former presidents have come under sharp criticism, especially in the last couple of years when allocations were increased by large margins even as the State insisted it had put in place austerity measures.
Mr Kibaki’s and Moi’s pensions are set to increase by 15.6 per cent next year to Sh74 million. If shared equally, the package assures each retired president a monthly payout of Sh3 million — a figure that is higher than Mr Kenyatta’s official salary of Sh1.5 million.
The High Court last year stopped payment of allowances worth millions of shillings to the former leaders, after declaring them an unnecessary burden to the taxpayer. The Attorney-General appealed the decision, allowing the two to continue enjoying the hefty allowances.
Mr Kibaki signed the allowances int
