The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) suffered another hitch on Wednesday after the National Assembly slashed Ksh545 million allocated to it in the 2019/20 financial year by Ksh95 million.
South Mugirango MP Silvanus Osoro moved the proposal to slash the commission’s budget and was supported by his Funyula counterpart Wilberforce Oundo and nominated MP David Sankok.
This move came as MPs approved the Ksh1.8 trillion recurrent and development estimates for the national government.
The embattled commission, chaired by Lyn Mengich, was first allocated Ksh645 million for the next financial year but MPs slashed the amount by Ksh125.6 million on Wednesday, June 12 when the budget was read in Parliament by Treasury CS Henry Rotich.
Of the amount, the commission allocated Ksh99.17 million for purchase of motor vehicles and other transport equipment, Ksh20.4 million for refurbishing its offices and Ksh2.85 million for travelling. Ksh2 million was quoted as being operating expenses and purchase of office furniture worth Ksh1.13 million.
The commission’s attempts to have the MPs regularize the expenditure were fruitless.
The commission cited Article 223 of the Constitution to defend the expenditure which provides that the government may spend money that has not been budgeted for on emergencies (drought, floods, insecurity). However, the government must seek post- facto approval from the National Assembly within two months of the expenditure.
“It is incomprehensible why new commissioners should buy new cars when the former commissioners had vehicles that are available. This is also not a commission that is coming into office for the first time, for its members to incur expenses on office refurbishment,” commented Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah, who chairs the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriation Committee.
The SRC has been at loggerheads with the MPs following the decision to challenge the Ksh250,000 monthly housing allowance awarded to them by the court.
The allowance was backdated to October 5, 2018, when High Court Judge Chacha Mwita ruled that all State officers were entitled to a house or a housing allowance provided by the State.
MPs are categorized as State officers, but they had not been getting house allowances.
