Jubilee Party Members of Parliament (MPs) have drafted a new bill that seeks to bequeath President Uhuru Kenyatta with powers to appoint the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) Chairperson.
The Bill suggests that the selection panel for the nomination of the chairperson and commissioners should be abolished to allow the various stakeholder agencies to submit one nominee for SRC Commissioner without going through an interviewing panel.
The President will then have the mandate to appoint the Chairperson of the Commission at will and the nominee will then be subjected to parliamentary approval before the formal appointment.
The Bill also seeks to have the SRC commissioners serve a full-time as opposed to their one-term period of 6 years which expires on Tuesday.
[caption caption="File image of President Uhuru Kenyatta with SRC Chairperson Sarah Serem"]
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"Delete subsections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of Section 7 which relate to the formation of a selection panel under the procedure for nominating a commissioner(s) and allow the President to nominate his or her choice for chairperson in accordance with Article 230( 2 ) of the Constitution.
"This bill seeks to amend the Act to provide for commissioners to serve on a full-time basis," the proposed Bill reads in part.
According to the Statute Law (miscellaneous amendments) (No.3) Bill, the new powers will ensure that President Kenyatta has a say in what State Officers take home as their salaries and allowances.
In July, SRC Chair Sarah Serem announced drastic pay-cuts for politicians from the President to Members of County Assembly (MCAs) that abolished sitting allowance for MPs' plenary sessions, mileage allowance and the special parliamentary.
"There's absolutely no reason why the Senate and National Assembly members should earn a salary and at the same time draw a sitting allowance for the plenary sessions otherwise there will be money for sitting, standing and walking allowances so this is removed," Serem asserted at the time.
The move was not received well by the MPs who immediately demanded that the government provide vehicles to compensate them for the stripped mileage allowance.
[caption caption="SRC Chairperson Sarah Serem during a past presser"]
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The new Bill is likely to be met with objection from the Opposition MPs when it is tabled in Parliament.
