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{
    "id": 1024253,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1024253/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 343,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Wilberforce Oundo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13331,
        "legal_name": "Wilberforce Ojiambo Oundo",
        "slug": "wilberforce-ojiambo-oundo-2"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity. We are a House of debate and we must be allowed to debate the Bills before us without any intentions of short changing anybody. I stand here to support the Parliamentary Pensions Amendment Bill No.3 of 2019 sponsored and presented in this House by Hon. Mwadime. I must take this opportunity to thank him for having spared the time to come up with these amendments. I want to start by making two important statements in respect of this matter. First of all, Article 41 of the Constitution of Kenya requires that each person should be accorded fair labor practices. While it is granted that Members of Parliament offer the public service, the Constitution is expressly clear that a Member of Parliament can only hold that position and cannot be allowed to hold any other gainful employment, and then the provisions of Article 41 should prevail in this respect. Eventually after working, you will have to retire. At one point or the other, you will have to stop working either by retirement or by being dismissed as a worker or by ultimate or untimely death, where you leave your spouses and all the people you supported. So, this is the genesis of this amendment. Those who have spoken before me have made strenuous efforts to draw a distinction between defined benefit schemes and defined contribution schemes. One of my colleagues has raised a question that in passing this Bill will it be conferring indirect benefits to us, contrary to the provisions of the law or not? Technically speaking, here we have a scheme that more or less, marries the two. There are contributions that are clearly defined in terms of percentage but most importantly, there are benefits clearly defined in the Act. So, I would request the committee to really look at it very clearly and come up with a terminology that prevents or safeguards the interest of this House and the purpose of this Bill. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, again, the line must be drawn very clearly on the issue of gratuity and that of pension. While the Act seems to provide for a choice or a decision to be made by an individual, from where I stand and what I understand, gratuity and pension are two separate issues. They should not be confused. Typically if you work, your employer can decide to give you a gift on Christmas Day. That gift should not be deducted from any benefits that you will gain for having served your employer. We want the public, the Government of Kenya and the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) to treat us the same way. Obviously, we then need to be very clear that this decision to choose either to go for gratuity or pension is going to cause a lot of confusion and might actually deny Members of this House their due benefits. The third issue that seems to be a problem here is what happens to first timers; those who do not make it. If you look at Clause 6 of the Bill, it attempts to define reckonable service yet, when you go to Clause 8 of the Bill, it seems to jumble matters which will require addressing and clarity. 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."
}