The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has proposed another increase in basic pay for Members of Parliament (MP).
In the proposals, the commission had recommended a Ksh40,000 increase from the current Ksh710,000 per month to Ksh750,000 per month.
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However, the proposals call for the slashing of the lawmakers’ committee sittings, local travel perks and car grants ahead of the August 9 general elections to avert further strain on the country’s economy by reducing its ballooning wage bill.
The commission slashed the tax-free car grant from Ksh5 million to Ksh3.5 million. This leaves MPs with no choice but to cough out money from their own pockets or take loans to afford high-end cars such as Toyota Prado and Toyota Landcruiser V8, some of which go for a marked price of over Ksh5 million.
Committee meetings were cut to eight a month from the present unlimited sessions, with MPs taking Ksh5,000 per committee sitting. The chairperson bags Ksh10,000 and vice-chairpersons Ksh7,500, with the new proposals seeing parties in the meetings take home eight times the amount per month.
SRC also proposed to slice the mileage claims of Ksh187 per kilometre for a return trip to their constituencies to Ksh112.
The commission is yet to make public the reduced perks which have brought lawmakers at odds, with fears that the cuts would turn them into ‘beggars’. To avoid confrontations, the commission is expected to gazette the proposed changes after the closure of Parliament on June 9 ahead of the polls.
“The SRC does not agree with the Parliamentary Service Commission’s proposals. But we will put our foot down. We will wait for the SRC budget and we will either shoot it down or cut it substantially.
“SRC is a part-time commission but they are sitting permanently. They earn a full-time salary, get sitting and house allowances but are at the same time denying us house allowances,” said an MP to the Business Daily.
SRC had proposed on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, to increase the salaries of MPs to Ksh710,000 from Ksh621,250 as well as senators, a jump of 14 per cent.
The wage bill for the MPs shot up by Ksh36.3 million per month to cater for the senators and MPs who are 410 in number.
The proposal also called for the increase of Ksh11,248 for the Minority and Majority leaders, Ksh10,000 for the speakers and Ksh8,000 for deputy speakers.
“Chairpersons shall be paid Ksh15,000 per sitting subject to a maximum of Ksh240,000 per month and members shall be paid Ksh7,500 per sitting subject to a maximum of Ksh120,000 per month,” SRC noted at the time.
SRC also cleared the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to reorganise the salaries of judicial officers as well as provide for allowances. The new structure saw Chief Justice (CJ) Martha Koome receiving the same total of Ksh1.3 million a month in maximum terms but split into basic salary and allowances.
