Gov’t responds to Uhuru’s statement on denied retirement benefits
President William Ruto’s government has
come out to address the scathing statement by former president Uhuru Kenyatta on
the status of his retirement benefits package.
Mr Kenyatta through his spokesperson Kanze
Dena on Monday afternoon told journalists that his office has been starved of its
rightful packages among them the stipulated budgetary allocations, forcing the
former president to foot bills the state should be catering for.
Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura in a
statement issued in the evening said Kenyatta’s office has been issued with 14
vehicles which the State House fuels and maintains.
“They also alleged falsely that their fuel
cards have been blocked. We, however, put it on record that the vehicles are
fuelled through the State House Master Card. Our records show that several
vehicles were fuelled as recently as May 15, 2024,” said Mwaura.
He said the government has records of
Kenyatta’s office’s care service history dating to as recent as May 15, 2024.
“The office also claimed that the vehicles
are old and not deserving of the retired President. But the records are clear:
The vehicles were bought in the years ranging between 2020, 2021 and 2022. They
are, therefore, very befitting of the person of the third retired President,” Mwaura
said.
According to the government, Kenyatta’s office
has sent a request for four vehicles worth Ksh.140 million.
Kenyatta’s office had said it was allocated
two Toyota Land Cruisers, a Mercedes Benz and a Range Rover used by former
First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, which Dena said were however old, contrary to the
Presidential Retirement Benefits Act.
“Four Toyota Prados are in use as follows.
Three are in use by the security detail given to the former president and 1
that is in use by the office as well as 1 Subaru Forester,” said Dena.
She said Kenyatta has been fuelling his
cars since the fuel cards issued by the government were cancelled and blocked from
March 2023 to date.
On the issue of the state of Kenyatta’s office,
Mwaura said the office of the late President Mwai Kibaki in Nairobi’s Nyari estate
which he used between 2013 and 2022 and which the government purchased is a “suitable
office for any retired President.”
“By rejecting this office and preferring
that the government leases his own private home, the third retired president is
inviting the government to violate procurement laws, regulations and procedures,”
said the government spokesperson.
He accused Kenyatta of “want[ing] to be
both a landlord and a tenant at the same time,” calling it “an adventure that
the government cannot engage in as this is a serious conflict of interest.”
Similarly, on Kenyatta’s office staff, Mwaura
said George Kariuki and Kanze Dena’s names have not been forwarded to the State
House Controller for processing.
He maintained that Ruto’s government
diligently pays the salaries of the retired president, his staff and their
allowances; fuels his 14 vehicles; and facilitates all his travels.
“The Act provides that only four foreign
trips should be fully paid for and for a maximum of 14 days. As for daily
subsistence when on official duty, Public Service Commission and National
Treasury regulations apply,” said Mwaura.
Kenyatta’s office had protested the lack of
facilitating his foreign trips; to Ethiopia to attend a peace process led by
the African Union and another to Burundi for the 11th summit of the Heads of
State and government of the East African Community (EAC).
"In the year 2022/2023 parliament
allocated to this office Ksh.655 million. To date the office can only confirm
spending of Ksh.28 million spread across the payment of an allowance for
domestic travel as well as facilitation of the 2 official trips that have been honoured
so far," Dena told reporters.
"This is approximately 4.4 per cent of the
total budget. This does not include payment of salaries and medical insurance.
No other monies spent can be accounted for by this office."
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