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"content": "THE COUNTY ASSEMBLIES PENSIONS SCHEME BILL (SENATE BILL NO. 14 OF 2024)"
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
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"content": " Proceed, Senate Majority Leader."
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"content": "(Sen. Cheruiyot)]: Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I beg to move that the County Assemblies Pensions Scheme Bill (Senate Bill No.14 of 2024) be now read a Second Time. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"content": "This is an important Bill. I appreciate what the Senate has done in the last few weeks, especially with regards to our brothers and sisters who serve in our constituent assemblies in the counties. Remember that we have already passed legislation in this House that grants financial autonomy to our county assemblies. That Bill is presently on its way to the National Assembly for consideration. One of the biggest requests that the county assemblies have made to this House as an elder brother in the devolution family is to ensure that we grant them the freedom with which they do their responsibilities. The second and most important thing is that the Bill is looking into the welfare of MCAs. At the beginning of this term, there is a conversation we had about the salaries of MCAs. The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) drastically reduced remuneration for MCAs and put it at a figure that shocked the country, especially those that know what officers in public service like elected officials, have to go through. It left many of our county assemblies in very difficult financial situations. I do not know whether that has contributed to the many wrangles that we continue to see between our county assemblies with the executive. In fact, in my three terms of being a Senator, I have never seen a time where there is extreme wrangles between county assemblies and the executive as this time. There are many reasons for that. I do not want to speculate. However, I highly suspect that the fact that the welfare of the MCAs has not been sufficiently addressed since the onset of devolution has a thing to do with it. The MCAs look at those that serve in the first term. If you find that your predecessor, who served before you when salaries were better and there was consistent flow of money to our county governments, but ever since they left office, they are living in abject poverty, chances are that during your time of service, you will also be plodding. Every politician lives with the practical reality of knowing that one day they will be no longer in service. It may be in the next election or the subsequent one, but one day, they will cease holding the power and the influence of public office. Therefore, they need to be assured of their future, especially knowing the fact that in this country, once you have served as an elected official, it is extremely difficult to secure employment elsewhere. Very few people will trust you. If you appear before an interview panel and you say that you were a Member of Parliament previously, chances are high that they will reject your request for employment. This passes and holds for the Member of County Assembly (MCA). Therefore, it is not a waste of valuable legislative time to process this Bill with regard to the pension of our MCAs. The principle object of this Bill is to establish the county assembly's pension scheme, which is for all MCAs, to provide for the establishment of the scheme's board of trustees, and to provide for the scheme's management and administration. The Bill proposes that the scheme offer lump sum payments as provident, periodic payments as pension, and income drawdowns. The proposed scheme will transition all MCAs into one universal scheme for all 47 county governments. It will also be open to other public officers and any other person who this particular board may approve. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "The Senate Majority Leader",
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"content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, when the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations return their verdict on this particular Bill – earlier on, I asked Sen. Abbas, who is the Chairperson of this Committee, and I have had the opportunity to listen to County Assembly's Forum, who shared their views and input on this particular Bill. It will be important to note what their contributions would have been and how they intend the Bill to be improved. However, this is the basis upon which we are beginning this conversation on the need to ensure that MCAs just like we who serve in the national legislature, have some form of pension. Let it be known because I know how the Kenyan media operates. I would not be shocked if tomorrow morning, I woke up to a screaming headline that says, \"The Senate Majority Leader moves a Bill to give pension to MCAs.\" Then people will begin the usual conversation that is misinformed most of the time in our public spaces. This is not about raiding the public coffers. It is about setting up a pension scheme that perhaps, and just like ours, will be contributory. We are deducting money during our time of service here in this House. Eventually, when you retire and you reach the proper age, you will earn a pension depending on how much you have contributed over the years. This is why the Members that have served longer enjoy more resources because it is actually a contributory scheme and not a raid on the public coffers as many would imagine. The establishment of this scheme is paramount as it will provide financial security for the MCAs upon retirement and ensure that they transition out of service with dignity and stability. I have explained how we undermine devolution by having people serve in offices where they know that my only usefulness to this society is when I am in office. Sometimes, even in their decision-making because they have no guaranteed security in the future, people tend to make decisions that are short-sighted because they have no absolute plan for the future. If you are certain that there is already a scheme set out for you where in future, once you retire or once you exit from that particular office; there is a decent salary that can keep you going. How many times do you meet former MCAs who struggle even with basic things as basic as school fees and even food to eat? My phone is full of messages from people that I know from across the country who previously served as either councillors or MCAs. They gave service to this country. However, we have not organised ourselves in a way that you equally enjoy a pension once your days here are done or in public service. Without a pension scheme, Members and staff of our county assemblies face challenges in meeting their needs, leading to financial vulnerability. Therefore, this Bill establishes the county assembly pension scheme, which will cushion MCAs from financial strain post-retirement. For this reason, the importance of this Bill can never be gainsaid. There are various parts of the Bill, from part one to part five. Part One of the Bill, which comprises clauses one to five, contains the preliminary matters, which are the title, interpretation of The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"content": "terms, applicable clauses, and organisation of state officer who shall join and the scope of the Bill, which is to the extent and range of those who may access services of this particular scheme. Part II of the Bill comprises clauses six to 21, which provide for the establishment of the scheme. It establishes the County Retirement Scheme Fund and its board of trustees. It provides the procedure for the appointment of the trustees and the necessary qualifications. We do not want any person who has the opportunity to arise and claim that they should be allowed the chance to run these schemes. We need qualified people. Madam Temporary Speaker, it provides that the trustees function and have powers and set tenures to three years, renewable ones based on their performance. Part Three of the Bill, comprising clauses 22 to 37, contains the provisions on the administration of the scheme and provides for the appointment of the fund managers and the custodian. It also sets out their functions, including those of the administrator, who is the CEO. Further, the part provides for membership of the scheme without a sponsor, thus vesting benefits, withdrawal from the retirement savings account, and retirement from the service, among other things. It sets out the prohibited payments from the scheme, which are the usual statutory requirements of any pension scheme. For those who follow how pension schemes operate, this is nothing new. Part Four of the Bill, which is Clauses 38 to 44, provides for the establishment and management of the county assembly's pension scheme fund, which contains financial provisions. It provides information on how surplus funds may be invested and sets out the requirements for the board to have a reserve account. A basic provision to ensure that for whatever reason, when members call upon the opportunity to draw from this fund, they have something that secures their future. It is important to ensure that our MCAs actually, just like the rest of all of us who work in one place or the other, have financial stability upon their retirement."
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"content": "[The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Veronica Maina) left the chair]"
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"content": "[The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Wakili Sigei) in the chair]"
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"content": "You know, Madam Temporary Speaker--- Sorry, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I have noted that change in Chair. I was pretty much surprised to address Madam Temporary Speaker, only to notice she was behind me walking by. It is assumed what a contribution to poverty is – where, when they say poverty is a vicious cycle, how many times actually people contribute to their poverty by ensuring that they do not join any pension scheme, and eventually upon their retirement, they have to rely on members of the public or members of their family to sustain their life. This should be the way. I hope that, eventually, we can get to a point where all public servants, and not just us, Members of Parliament, make contributions away from the national scheme of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). I know every The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1499791,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "The Senate Majority Leader",
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"content": "employed adult in the Republic contributes to NSSF. However, over and above, there are many other pension schemes that people contribute to and hope that in their retirement in future, they can draw from. I hope that, eventually, we can have all our public servants have a fund set out for them so that you do not have to go through what public servants go through, like police and teachers, by queuing at Bima House for you to get your file approved. Most of the time, this is money that has been deducted from them, and I know we have combined that particular space with the set-up of some institutions that have a big, confusing name. I do not know how practical it is. That is not what we are proposing for the MCAs. This is just one, purely for MCAs. Part Five of the Bill, which is clauses 45 to 53, sets out the general provisions, including the Board's duty of care, protection of trustees and scheme employees from personal liabilities, offences, and penalty clauses, and the usual conversations about how to manage a scheme and how they conduct their businesses. I wish to state that this is a very important Bill and I urge Senators to support it so that our brothers and sisters in our county assemblies can have a more reliable pension scheme system upon their retirement from public office. They can also live a decent life like they lived during the days as they toiled and served members of the public. With those very many remarks, I beg to move and request the Senator for Tana River, Sen. Mungatana, to second this Bill. I thank you."
}
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