Update: Murkomen responded to Citizen TV's story which reported that he and Duale declined to take pay cuts.
"This is misleading. I was clear that I have nothing to be cut from my less than 10k net salary after all my loans are deducted & that I will make my personal donation to help the people from my farm income which is better than donating 10K for the remainder of my contractual term," Murkomen tweeted on Wednesday, April 15.
Senate Majority leader Kipchumba Murkomen while speaking with Citizen TV's Waihiga Mwaura on Tuesday, April 14, stated that he won't uphold President Uhuru Kenyatta's pay cut appeal, arguing that he was financially constrained, but he would contribute through a different approach.
In a Press Conference hosted at State House on Wednesday, March 25, the President made the unprecedented announcement regarding salaries of government officials. He and his deputy William Ruto took an 80 per cent pay cut as he urged other leaders to follow suit.
However, Murkomen, revealing his meagre earnings, stated that not only him, but most of his colleagues would be tremendously affected by with a pay cut.
"I had a discussion with the Parliamentary Service Commission and I want to disclose this publicly. My salary is less than Ksh 10,000 so I told myself that it would not be beneficial for me to contribute Ksh 5,000 or so.
“Many members of Parliament, when they join parliament, commit all their salaries to mortgages and loans and so whatever they take home at the moment is less than Ksh.10,000 for most of them; some don’t even get anything. Many of you never understand," Murkomen defended.
The Elgeyo Marakwet Senator, and a close ally of Deputy President William Ruto, however, had a solution at hand, explaining that it would be better to raise donations from other ventures, as Kenyans needed every support whatsoever.
"I am willing to collect my personal donation like from farming or other ventures, greater than my salary and donate it to the Emergency Response Fund.
"I would want to call on my colleagues in Parliament and the Senate to be prepared as history will judge us for standing on the side of the people when facing a pandemic. To do so, we must go beyond the proposals made by the President, which go beyond taxes and salaries of those in informal jobs to salvaging the life of hustlers who need our support," Murkomen stated.
Aden Duale, National Assembly Majority leader also weighed in on the contentious issue as Mwaura cornered him to affirm whether on not he would stand in solidarity with Kenyans. Duale played cagey with the matter, pinning his blame on companies that have been posting huge profits in Kenya over the past years.
"A pay cut of Ksh 30,000 or Ksh 50,000 or Ksh 200,000 is not the issue. The issue today is how the blue-chip companies are posting billions in terms of profit, by today, they should be giving back to the Kenyan people. They should donate Ksh 2 billion or so.
"Let's not talk about Ksh 10,000 pay cut. The people of Garissa Township sent me to the National Assembly not to do a pay cut but to make sure that resources and laws are available for Kenyans to be safe in their homes," Duale vividly responded.
Video: Citizen TV
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