State diligently pays Uhuru’s salary, allowances – Isaac Mwaura

The government has said it has diligently been paying the salaries of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and his allowances including those of his staff.

In a statement, Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said State House also maintains and fuels all of Uhuru’s 14 vehicles and facilitates his local and foreign travel.

“It is critical to point out that the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act provides that only four foreign trips should be fully paid for and for a maximum of 14 days. As for daily subsistence when on official duty, Public Service Commission and National Treasury regulations apply,” Mwaura said.

The statement comes hours after Uhuru’s spokesperson Kanze Dena delivered a statement saying since Uhuru’s retirement to date, the government has honoured only two trips.

She further claimed that out of the 34 staff members Uhuru is entitled to and whose salaries and allowances are fully paid by the State, two, herself included, are still waiting for renewal of their contracts.

The other is the Administrator, George Kariuki.

On the alleged unfulfilled provision of foreign trips, Dena claimed that the retired president’s office got to know that the trips were not fully honoured because of the size of delegation he wanted to travel with.

This, she said, was communicated verbally.

“If the issue was truly the size of the delegation, why not then cater for the 10 persons as advised by Foreign Affairs?” Dena posed.

She further claimed that seeking approval on which trips to undertake also emerged as a big issue with the government holding that the former President could only submit requests for international trips and wait to be cleared on which trips he could embark on.

“It begs the question was the decision not to facilitate the former President because of his entourage or the State House did not deem it fit for him to undertake those trips? Dena asked.

Contrary to Mwaura’s claim that Uhuru has 14 vehicles at his disposal all of which are fueled and maintained by the state, Dena said Uhuru has only nine vehicles.

“On the issue of vehicles given. I can confirm that the former President was given two Toyota Land Cruisers, one Mercedes Benz, one Subaru Forester and one Range Rover not two as alluded to by the Government spokesperson,” she said.

These vehicles, she said, were allocated to Uhuru to ease his movement as he waited for the enactment of the Retired Benefits Act.

“He (Mwaura) mentioned 12 cars among these are the three Range Rovers that belong to Mama Ngina Kenyatta. So in essence what is available at the former President’s disposal is 9 vehicles which constitute those for his personal use, and security,” she said.