NAIROBI, Kenya – Former councillors will not receive the honorarium and monthly pensions they have long sought, as the government says there is no legal framework to support such payments.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi told the Senate on Wednesday that despite a parliamentary resolution in 2018 recommending the payouts, the National Treasury cannot proceed due to legal constraints.
“The Attorney General, in a legal opinion dated May 8, 2023, advised that there was no legal basis to support the proposed one-off honorarium of Sh200,000 for former councillors who served for less than 20 years,” Mbadi said.
His remarks came in response to a question from Meru Senator Kathuri Murungi, who sought an explanation for the delay in implementing the Senate’s resolution.
Mbadi clarified that former councillors were not salaried employees but instead received allowances that varied by region.
This, he said, made it difficult to establish a structured formula for determining benefits.
“The legal advisory highlighted the absence of a structured formula to determine benefits, given that councillors were not salaried but received allowances that varied across different regions,” Mbadi stated. “Consequently, implementing the proposed payment of Sh2.38 billion to 11,919 former councillors lacks the necessary legal and policy foundation.”
According to Mbadi, pension or gratuity payments had previously been limited to councillors who had served continuously for 20 years or more as of December 13, 1993, under the then Ministry of Local Government.
Despite ruling out direct pension payments, Mbadi said the government is exploring an alternative through the Inua Jamii social protection program.
“The State Department for Social Protection, in collaboration with the National Treasury, has been verifying eligible registrants into the program,” he said.
Additionally, the Treasury plans to consult with the Auditor General to conduct an audit of 328 former councillors identified as potentially eligible for support, ensuring that only those still alive are considered.
The decision is likely to disappoint many former councillors, who have been lobbying for financial support, arguing that they played a critical role in governance before county governments were introduced under the 2010 Constitution.
