The NASA Principals. The government has withdrawn their security. [Photo: Kenya-today.co.ke]
In 2015, Uhuru vetoed a Bill requiring politicians to first quit politics before being considered for retirement perks.This law denies opposition leaders key State benefits including 24-hour security and their entitlements.It means that opposition leader Raila Odinga and his co-principals cannot claim to have been denied any privilege by the government when their security was withdrawn.In the Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Bill of 2012, leaders can only benefit from State perks when they retire from active politics, according to zipo.co.ke.Unfortunately, for the opposition leaders, their being in active politics denies them the chance to enjoy this.
Until last week, Raila, Musalia Mudavadi and Kalonzo Musyoka were enjoying their current benefits as a favour from the State.After the withdrawal of their security, Raila said the move was part of a wider scheme to cause harm to the opposition leaders.Acting Interior CS, Fred Matiang’i denied the allegations saying, “Why should we give you 20 police officers so that you can loiter around with them at conferences and hotels when they are needed elsewhere?”He added, “What law have we broken? The Inspector General of Police deploys police officers to duty where they are needed!”On Tuesday, September, 26, officers attached to the three NASA principals were recalled to the General Service Unit headquarters for redeployment.The withdrawal came just hours before the opposition took their anti-Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) protests to the streets.Raila insists that the act was illegal, however adding that his biggest security is the people of Kenya. “Under the law, I am entitled to the security, not the sympathy of President Uhuru Kenyatta,” he said.