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{
    "id": 1024154,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1024154/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 244,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Mbadi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. The discussion around the amendments to the parliamentary pensions scheme has confused us a lot but we need to understand, as Hon. Wanga said. I was actually watching from my office and I can say that the one we dealt with in the morning was very restrictive. It was dealing with those former Members of Parliament. We are now on a totally different Bill which has been ably moved by Hon. Mwadime on behalf of our Parliamentary Pensions Committee. Since we are dealing with a country where people like sensationalising things even without taking time to understand, I have been receiving many calls from the media who seem to have not understood my Bill which was pretty simple. This one will be misunderstood even much more. We need to be very clear and explain these facts so that those who want to hear or those who want to listen may do so and understand exactly what we are doing. First, the way the Act is today, Members of the Senate are so disadvantaged. If one wanted to talk about a Member of the Senate who would be getting pension after serving two terms, it would be problematic because the law talks about National Assembly and not Parliament. So, if you are a Member of the Senate, it would be a challenge. I think the correction of the definition from “National Assembly” to “Parliament” is very easy to understand. That is one of the things that this Bill is trying to do. Two, and with the benefit of being in this House for a while now, I want to just explain one fact around this amendment especially, on Clause 8 and that is the justice I want to do to this Bill. The others can pick other things. When we reported here in 2013, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) decided to write to Parliament and actually gave Members of Parliament gratuity at the rate of 31 per cent. That letter is there. The SRC has approved that Members of Parliament should get gratuity at the rate of 31 per cent of your basic salary; same to any other public office holder. That principle is there. Where the confusion comes in is that we are in a parliamentary pensions’ scheme which is guided by law and the Constitution is clear that you cannot vary pension to the disadvantage of the pensioner. Again, this is a contributory pension scheme, as Hon. Kimunya mentioned. So, you The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}