Members of Parliament (MPs) from both Jubilee and National Super Alliance defied the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and awarded themselves Sh5 Million.
This comes after the SRC recommended that the legislators take cut in their salaries, perks and eliminated their car grant.
The Treasury gave in to the MPs’ demands and all 416 legislators, including Senators, are set to get Sh5 Million car grants.
MPs teamed up and rejected President Uhuru Kenyatta’s plea to respect the SRC directive that eliminated car grants after he asked them to accept cuts in salaries and allowances.
[caption caption="Sarah Serem Chairperson of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission"][/caption]
“Leadership is about serving and not a business. I call upon all public servants and state officers to support SRC recommendations,” the President stated.
However, the legislators, through the Parliamentary Service Commission, successfully challenged the changes.
Churchill Suba, head of the Civil Society Group and Coordinator, National Civil Society Congress, told off the legislators noting it was immoral for them to demand money when the wage bill is soaring and the cost of commodities is high.
He remarked that the increased salaries and car grants demonstrated was “unprecedented greed from MPs”.
At the end of this month, Senators and MPs will get a basic salary of Sh710,000 but could take home as much as Sh1.1 Million monthly, including allowances.
They are entitled to Sh5,000 sitting allowance every time they clock in for the plenary session, which is given for each committee sitting.
[caption caption="legislators during a session in parliament"][/caption]
On December 15, Justice George Odunga suspended implementation of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s directive lowering MPs’ salaries and allowances.