No special pension scheme for governors, deputies; Court quashes CoG proposal

The High Court has ruled that retiring county governors and their deputies are not entitled to a defined benefit pension scheme similar to the one enjoyed by State officers at the national government level.

This follows a petition by the Council of Governors (CoG) against the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) determined by Judge L. N. Mugambi on July 25 at Milimani Law Court in Nairobi.

SRC holds that the proposed defined benefit pension scheme is neither affordable nor fiscally sustainable. 

The salaries regulator says that if implemented, the scheme would have had a ripple effect on all State officers at both the national and county government levels, leaving little resources for development and service delivery.

It says the scheme would also burden successor governments and generations that must bear the burden of underwriting the cost of a lifetime benefit, “when the option of gratuity already provides adequate social security.”

“Additionally, this would also have meant that each turnover of a governor and deputy governor during each election period would have added to the pool of freshly elected individuals eligible for lifetime pension benefits, hence, straining the public finances,” says SRC.

Governors and deputy governors are paid a service gratuity at the end of their terms at the rate of 31 per cent of annual basic pay for every year served.

“Should they desire, an additional option also exists for governors and deputy governors to opt to join a direct contributory benefit scheme,” the remuneration commission holds.