Why MPs Want a 55-Year-Old Retirement Age

A parliamentary committee is looking into lowering the mandatory retirement age from the current 60 years to 55 in order to provide younger individuals a chance to work in the public sector.

The Public Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2023, will include an amendment from the Labour Committee of the National Assembly that will raise the retirement age to 55. This was disclosed on Thursday, August 3.

A bill that would amend the current Act to state that no officer should serve in an acting role for longer than six months is sponsored by Benjamin Gathiru, the MP for Embakasi Central.

Kangundo’s Fabian Muli said the committee should propose more modifications to the Bill that would lower the retirement age if it wants to serve the concerns of young people.

Mr. Muli continued, “We need to think further and lower the age to 55 in order to inspire pride in the young people of this country.”

He declared that he would personally submit the revision if the committee didn’t take the age reduction amendment into account.

According to Kilifi South MP Ken Chonga, the committee needs to alter the fundamental legal conditions governing the retirement age.

According to Mr. Chonga, we need to comprehend how the 60-year retirement age was established in order to amend such rules.

Mangale Munga, a Lunga Lunga MP, endorsed decreasing the retirement age and said it was necessary to do so in order to accommodate the growth of young people.

Just why 60 years? It should be raised to 55 years old to provide way for the young folks. Mr. Munga said, “That is a suggestion; whether it is accepted or rejected depends on personal opinion.”

Mr. Gathiru said, “I have given the committee permission to make changes to the Bill, but we should not lose sight of its purpose or objective.”

The majority of federal employees who are expected to retire in the next five years would do so sooner if the proposals are implemented. This will have a big impact, including increasing financial pressure on a government that is already struggling to pay its bills due to an increase in pension payments.

Due to the government’s challenges to cover rising pension expenditures, the mandatory retirement age was increased from 55 to 60 years old in 2009.

Pensions and gratuities were paid out by the National Treasury in the six months before to December 2021 in the amount of Sh69.22 billion.

A 2016 audit found that 35% of employees in the national government were between the ages of 51 and 60.

During the Financial Year 2021–2022, 3,958 officers overall left the service, according to the Public Service Commission (PSC) annual report for 47 ministries, agencies, and organizations.

A person may be appointed in an acting capacity for up to six months, but no more than 30 days, in accordance with the Public Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

A person can only be nominated to hold a public office in an acting capacity when they have met all conditions for that particular officer, according to the proposed legislation.

“An acting appointment shall be in favour of a public officer who is duly qualified and competent to perform the duty and not undermine the expeditious appointment or deployment of a competent person to the public office concerned,” the Bill says.

The Public Service Commission will swiftly revoke any appointment made for an acting position without the required qualifications.

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