Kenyan Taxpayers to Pay Sh2.9 Billion as Send Off to Governors Voted Out in Tuesday’s Elections

As voters sent 25 governors packing in Tuesday’s election, the move is set to come with a Sh2.8 billion burden on taxpayers in form of sendoff packages.

The law provides that an exiting governor is entitled to a gratuity of 31 per cent of their annual basic pay for every year served. Deputy governors, county executive committee members, chief officers, county secretaries, and county assembly speakers are also entitled to such retirement sendoffs.

The incoming 47 county assemblies will elect new speakers, meaning more exiting officials will be claiming compensation.

Kamotho Waiganjo, a member of the now-defunct Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC), decried the provision, saying there is need to review the law on the gratuity.

“This is a conversation that needs to happen. From a budget perspective, this is not sustainable. We need to think about it. The cost is even bigger at the national government level,” Waiganjo said in an interview.

“We need to find a way to make it self-contributory, otherwise we’ll get into a deep hole given the high wage bill we already have.”