MPs who served the country between 1984 to 2001 will now have to go back to the drawing board after the government rejected a proposal to have their pension released.
Had the bill by Minority Leader John Mbadi been adopted by Treasury, close to 290 former legislators would have been entitled to Sh2. 7 billion pensions and an additional Sh100,000 monthly payment.
Majority Leader Aden Duale on Wednesday said Treasury was not consulted, adding that he will now withdraw the bill because it's illegal.
“I will be moving a motion to withdraw the Bill. This is because the committee did not take into account the Treasury’s views in approving the privately sponsored Bill,” Duale said on Wednesday.
“This is a money Bill that has financial implications on the government," Duale said, adding that the Bill should have been considered by the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) before it was introduced in the House.
The Finance Committee had sweetened the deal and recommended that the monthly payout be backdated to January 2010, meaning a lump sum of Sh100, 000 monthly for 119 months to date.
"This is a lot of public money, and the Treasury’s views should have been taken into account by the Finance committee, which it didn’t. I will be moving a motion that the Bill be stood down," Duale said.
Currently, the former lawmakers are entitled to Sh33,000 monthly pay from the government, a sum which many of them term as too little for their sustainability.
The move comes amid financial challenges in government, with the Treasury trimming Judiciary's budget, a move that caused a rift between the two arms of government.