The members of 11th parliament during a parliamentary session. [Photo/Standard digital.]
Members of parliament who lost in the August elections will not get the Sh6.7 million end of term pay out after the parliamentary service commission ruled out that they will not be getting both the gratuity cash and lifelong pension.
The 196 one-term MP's who failed to secure their seats will have to choose between the 6.7 million pay out or refund of their lifetime pension they contributed during the period that they were in the parliament.
The other 79 MPs that served for two terms and lost their seats in the August election, will be given their long life pension of Ksh 125,000 per month and not the gratuity.
The legislators usually contribute 12.75 percent of their salaries for pension with the government contributing the similar amount.
“If a member has served only one term, he or she can choose to be paid gratuity or a refund of his contributions,” National Assembly Clerk and administrator of the pension scheme Michael Sialai told the Business Daily in a recent interview.
Earlier, MP's of the 10th parliament that lost the 2013 elections took both the pension and gratuity package as they were previously given to legislators who lost to secure their seats.
Salary and Remuneration Commission had recently ruled that the two packages cannot be offered together to public servants and state officers.
However, The MP's will likely consider to take the pension contributed as it will be much more as compared to gratuity that is fixed at Sh 6.7 million.